BP, on behalf of the Kinnoull field co-venturers, has started production from the Kinnoull field in the central North Sea. Kinnoull is BP’s seventh and final major upstream project start-up in 2014.

The Kinnoull reservoir, developed as part of a wider rejuvenation of the Andrew field area, is tied back to BP’s Andrew platform, 230 kilometres east of Aberdeen, and is expected to enable production there to be extended by a further decade.

In order to access the reservoir, a new subsea system has been installed, together with a 700 tonne topside processing module on the Andrew platform. Production is now carried from the Kinnoull field to the Andrew platform via a 28 kilometre subsea pipeline bundle – the longest such system in the world – for processing and onward export via the Forties pipeline system (oil) and the CATS pipeline system (gas).

The investment included extensive refurbishment of the Andrew platform to improve its integrity and operational efficiency.

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