The Murlach field, formerly known as the Skua field, is an offshore oilfield development in the North Sea, UK.
Partners in the field are BP Exploration Operating Company (BPEOC), a subsidiary of bp, with an 80% stake, while NEO Next Energy holds the remaining 20% interest. BPEOC is the operator of the field.
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The field was originally operated by Shell under the name Skua, from 2001 until its decommissioning in late 2004.
The Murlach field redevelopment project’s environmental statement was submitted to the UK authorities in April 2022.
The project received approval from the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning and the North Sea Transition Authority in September 2023.
The field was commissioned in October 2025. It is estimated to have operational lifespan of 11 years.
Murlach field location
The Murlach oilfield is positioned in Block 22/24h on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the central North Sea, approximately 203km east of the Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland.
The field lies around 27km from the UK/Norway median line at water depths ranging from 93m to 95m.
Murlach field discovery and reservoir details
The Murlach oilfield was discovered in 1986. The Murlach reservoir is part of the Heron cluster of fields, which also encompasses Heron and Egret, and is adjacent to the Marnock Field.
The reservoir is a Triassic Skagerrak reservoir made of fluvial sediments.
The total recoverable volumes of oil from the Murlach Field are projected to be around 20 million barrels. It also hosts around 602 million cubic metres of total recoverable volumes of gas.
Murlach field development details
The Murlach field was developed as a subsea tie-back with two production wells connected to the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) platform using infrastructure associated with the Seagull and Heron Fields.
Each well is outfitted with a Xmas tree, an assembly of valves and fittings installed to control the flow of hydrocarbons. The wells are tied back to a manifold.
The project entailed the installation of a gas lift flowline extending roughly 7km from the ETAP platform to the Murlach manifold.
The manifold measures 20m in length, 10m in width and 5m in height, and acts as the central hub for the new infrastructure.
A 100m connection from the Murlach manifold was built to the existing 10in pipe-in-pipe ex-Heron production flowline.
The subsea infrastructure also includes a 150m connection from the existing subsea wash water flowline system to the Murlach manifold and a 500m umbilical links the existing Seagull umbilical to the Murlach manifold.
Additional tie-ins between the Murlach manifold and the two Murlach wells consist of various spools and umbilicals to facilitate production, gas lift and wash water operations.
Specifically, the offshore project installed approximately 40m of production spool, 40m of gas lift spool and 40m of wash water spool from the manifold to each well.
A 50m control umbilical connects the manifold to each well, ensuring effective control and monitoring of the operations.
The Murlach development lifts peak net output from ETAP by around 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
ETAP processing facility details
The ETAP platform, which commenced operations in July 1998, is expected to continue production into the 2030s.
The facility is a fixed manned installation located in UKCS Block 22/24a over the Marnock field, approximately 207km east of the Aberdeenshire coastline, and around 35km from the UK/Norway median line.
The ETAP platform operates with a 100% produced water (PW) reinjection system, ensuring zero discharge of PW into the sea.
Murlach production fluids are conveyed to the ETAP platform, while wash water and lift gas are supplied to the Murlach wells from the ETAP platform.
The additional inputs from Murlach do not exceed the capacity of the existing PW reinjection system on the ETAP platform.
Contractors involved
Subsea engineering services company Subsea7 secured a contract in July 2024 from bp through the Subsea Integration Alliance for the Murlach development.
The contract encompassed the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of subsea pipelines and production systems. Subsea7 delivered two vertical monobore trees, including a two-slot manifold and associated topside controls.
The company also installed 8km of rigid flowline and two flexible jumpers, along with the requisite subsea infrastructure.
Murlach implemented the first standard, configurable vertical monobore tree systems from SLB OneSubsea in the UK North Sea.
Fugro, a geodata company, was contracted to conduct an environmental survey at the Murlach field.
Wood, an engineering and technical services provider, was awarded a contract in January 2024 to deliver topside modifications for the project.
The company was responsible for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services to enhance the central processing facility of the ETAP production hub in preparation for the tie-in.
Wood previously delivered the pre-front end engineering design (FEED) and FEED work on the Murlach field.
