subsea tieback to the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) is BP's sixth major project start-up this year, contributing to a combined total of approximately 150,000 boed in new net production for 2025.
Global energy giant BP announced today the successful, safe start-up of production from the Murlach field in the UK North Sea. This milestone marks the company's sixth major upstream oil and gas project to come online in 2025, significantly contributing to its goal of growing its upstream business and efficiently supplying global energy demand.
The Murlach field, a two-well subsea tieback, is projected to add a peak net production of around 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). This new output is tied back to the BP-operated Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP), a central processing facility that has been a long-standing hub in the central North Sea for 27 years. The Murlach project is part of a broader company drive that has seen its six new projects add a combined peak net production of approximately 150,000 boed, keeping BP on track to deliver an additional 250,000 boed combined peak net production by the end of 2027.
The Murlach project itself is a prime example of infrastructure reuse and redevelopment. The field was originally operational in the early 2000s before being relinquished by the previous operator, with BP subsequently acquiring the licence. The current redevelopment, which received government and regulatory approvals in 2023, focused on capital efficiency and minimized new construction. The project involved drilling two new wells and installing new subsea equipment, but crucially, it maximized the reuse of some existing infrastructure and included necessary topside changes to the established ETAP central processing facility.
Doris Reiter, senior vice president of BP North Sea, emphasized the strategic importance of this approach. “A key focus for BP in the North Sea is to identify opportunities that can be developed competitively using existing infrastructure to effectively manage established oil and gas hubs for the entirety of their lifespan. Murlach serves as another great example of this,” Reiter stated. She also credited the successful execution to strong partnerships, adding, “It’s also testament to the skill and dedication of the BP team, our co-venturer NEO NEXT Energy, and supply chain colleagues.”
The successful commissioning of Murlach underscores BP’s commitment to its core upstream business.
