BP has announced they are buying 16.5% in the Clair field from ConocoPhillips and selling interest in the Greater Kuparuk Area in Alaska to ConocoPhillips.

The Clair field is located approximately 75 kilometres west of Shetland in Scottish territorial waters and was discovered in 1977. The Clair field west of Shetland has a complex fractured reservoir estimated to have had more than 7 billion barrels of hydrocarbons originally in place.

“Clair is a key advantaged oilfield for our North Sea business, a giant resource whose second phase is about to begin production and which holds great potential for future developments,” said BP Upstream Chief Executive Bernard Looney.

Production from Clair’s first phase of development began in 2005 and the field produced an average of 21,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) in 2017.

“In Alaska, this transaction will increase our focus on managing our deep resource base at the massive Prudhoe Bay oilfield and help enable a more competitive and sustainable business for BP,” Bernard Looney commented.

Details of the transactions have not being disclosed but, excluding customary adjustments, the transactions together are expected to be cash neutral for BP and ConocoPhillips.