Shell UK Makes FID on Victory Field in North Sea

Shell U.K. Limited has made a final investment decision (FID) on the Victory gas field in the United Kingdom (UK) North Sea, approximately 29.2 miles (47 kilometers) northwest of the Shetland Islands.

The development will feature a single subsea well that will be tied back to existing infrastructure of the Greater Laggan Area system, using a new 9.9-mile (16-kilometer) pipeline, Shell said in a news release Wednesday.

Shell expects the Victory field to come online in the middle of the decade and to produce 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas, or approximately 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, at its peak. The company added that this would be enough gas to heat almost 900,000 homes per year. Most of the field’s recoverable gas is expected to be extracted by the end of the decade.

“The UK North Sea is a critical national resource, providing a steady supply of the fuels people rely on today and strengthening the country’s energy security and resilience”, Shell UK Upstream Senior Vice President Simon Roddy said. “Continued investment is required to sustain domestic production, which is declining faster than the UK’s demand for oil and gas”.

Victory’s gas will be processed onshore at the Shetland Gas Plant before being piped to the UK mainland to enter the National Grid at St. Fergus, where Shell UK is also helping develop the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project, according to the release. The project’s operational emissions will be “lower than for many current UK North Sea gas fields” because Victory will tie back to existing infrastructure, the company noted.

Shell UK closed the acquisition of a 100 percent interest in Corallian Energy Ltd in November 2022, which exclusively comprised the P2596 Victory license to develop gas west of Shetland.

Once onstream, the Victory field will help to maintain domestically produced gas for Britain’s homes, businesses and power generation. Only 38 percent of the UK’s 2022 gas consumption was domestically produced, Shell said, citing the North Sea Transition Authority. “Victory is part of Shell UK’s aim to be a major investor in the UK energy system, sitting alongside our low-carbon and renewable projects including electric vehicle charging, floating offshore wind, and carbon capture and storage”, Shell noted.

Lubricant Products Company Acquisition

Meanwhile, Shell UK completed the acquisition of MIDEL and MIVOLT from Manchester-based M&I Materials Ltd.

Shell will manufacture, distribute and market the MIDEL and MIVOLT product lines as part of Shell’s global lubricants portfolio. The acquisition of MIDEL enables Shell to complement its differentiated position in the Transformer Oils sector used for power distribution, offshore wind parks, utility companies and traction power systems, the company said in an earlier news release.

By adding synthetic and natural ester-based transformer fluids and services to its portfolio, Shell Lubricants said it aims to deliver improved fire protection and biodegradability to its customers, adding that MIVOLT’s ester-based immersion cooling fluids support the development of thermally efficient electric vehicle batteries, battery energy storage systems and data centers.

MIDEL and MIVOLT are now owned by M&I Materials Development Ltd, which is fully owned and operated by Shell.

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