Shell UK has begun gas production at its Victory field, located about 47 kilometres north‑west of the Shetland Islands in the UK North Sea — marking a new milestone for the country’s domestic energy supply.
The Victory field, which is wholly owned and operated by Shell, is expected to help sustain the UK’s gas needs by supplying homes, businesses, and power generation facilities.
Gas will be produced from a single subsea well and transported through an existing pipeline to the Shetland Gas Plant, before being delivered to the Scottish mainland at St Fergus near Peterhead for entry into the national grid.
Shell said the use of existing facilities will help reduce operational emissions. Peak production from Victory is projected at around 150 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d), equivalent to about 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day — enough to heat approximately 900,000 UK homes for a year.
The majority of the field’s recoverable gas is expected to be extracted by the end of this decade.
The launch comes as UK domestic gas output continues to decline.
According to data from the North Sea Transition Authority, production fell by 10 per cent in 2024, with 61 per cent of UK gas supply imported last year.
Victory is expected to help offset this trend while supporting energy security during the transition to cleaner sources.
“Gas fields like Victory play a crucial role in the UK’s energy security, and the country will rely on them for decades to come.
“They provide an essential fuel we need now, and act as a partner to intermittent renewables as we move through the energy transition,” said Shell UK Upstream senior vice-president Simon Roddy.
“By developing fields like Victory next to existing infrastructure, we are making sure our production in the UK North Sea remains cost competitive and reduces operational emissions.”
Shell approved the final investment decision for Victory in January 2024.
The asset will eventually be transferred to Adura, a new independent joint venture to be owned equally by Shell and Equinor.
The companies expect to receive regulatory approval for Adura’s formation by the end of 2025.
Victory aligns with Shell’s broader strategy outlined at its Capital Market Day 2025, which includes bringing new upstream and integrated gas projects online between 2025 and 2030 to reach a combined peak production exceeding one million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
In June, Reuters reported that Shell aims to expand its global capacity by up to 12 million tonnes by the end of the decade.
