Total launches mammoth gas plant in Britain’s Shetland

Shetland : Total officially launched a huge new gas project in Britain’s remote Shetland Islands yesterday, hailed by London as a “vote of confidence” in the flagging North Sea oil and gas industry.

The French energy giant officially opened the Shetland Gas Plant in Britain’s northernmost outpost, which cost £3.5 billion ($5bn, 4.4bn euros) to build.

The plant began processing gas from the Laggan-Tormore fields on February 7. Production has since been ramped up to its full capacity of 500,000 cubic feet of gas (90,000 barrels of oil equivalent) per day.

The fields are expected to last for about 20 years.

The Laggan-Tormore fields lie around 80 miles (125 kilometres) northwest of Shetland. During his speech inaugurating the plant, Total chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said Total had invested £7.5 billion in Britain over the past five years and now provides a third of UK gas.

Laggan-Tormore is operated by Total with junior partners Denmark-headquartered DONG Energy and British energy company SSE, which each have a 20pc interest.

Located in up to 600 metres (1,970 feet) of water, the five wells tap reservoirs that lie 3,500 to 3,900 metres (11,500 to 12,800 feet) beneath the sea floor.

The gas is treated at the Shetland plant before the processed gas is piped into Britain’s main grid. 

Total claimed the plant was Britain’s biggest construction project since the London 2012 Olympics, employing 2,500 people at the peak of construction.