Shell UK Ltd. has started production from Victory gas field in the UK North Sea.
The field, currently owned and operated by Shell, lies about 47 km northwest of the Shetland Islands. Production will help to maintain domestically produced gas for Britain, reducing the UK’s reliance on imports from overseas, the operator said in a release Sept. 30. Citing the North Sea Transition Authority, Shell said UK gas production was down 10% in the last year, and that 61% of the UK's natural gas supply in 2024 was imported.
Natural gas from Victory will be extracted via a single subsea well and will be connected to an existing pipeline network and transported to the Shetland Gas Plant. From there it will be piped to the Scottish mainland at St Fergus near Peterhead, where it will be fed into the national gas network.
Peak production is estimated at 150 MMscfd of gas (about 25,000 boe/d) at full capacity, Shell said. Most of the field’s recoverable gas is expected to be extracted by the end of the decade.
Adura
Shell expects to transfer Victory field to the planned independent joint venture (JV), Adura, which will be 50-50 owned by Shell and Equinor.
Equinor UK Ltd. and Shell UK Ltd. in late 2024 agreed to combine certain UK offshore oil and gas assets into a joint venture, later named Adura, aimed at sustaining domestic oil and gas production and security of energy supply in the UK.
To be based in Aberdeen, the JV will include Equinor’s equity interests in Mariner, Rosebank, and Buzzard; and Shell’s equity interests in Shearwater, Penguins, Gannet, Nelson, Pierce, Jackdaw, Victory, Clair, and Schiehallion. A range of exploration licences also will be included. Adura is expected to produce over 140,000 boe/d in 2025.
Work continues towards securing regulatory approvals for the creation of Adura, which is expected by yearend.
