UK oil major BP has reported through its social media channels that the construction of the Clair Ridge project, west of the Shetland Islands, is now complete.

The Clair field is located 75 km west of the Shetland Islands in 150 m of water and extends over an area of 220 km². The field was originally discovered in 1977 and it started producing oil in February 2005.

Clair Ridge is the second phase of development of the Clair field which, according to BP, is the largest undeveloped hydrocarbon resource on the UKCS. It has an estimated eight billion barrels of oil in place.

The second phase comprises two new bridge-linked platforms and new pipeline infrastructure to connect storage and redelivery facilities on Shetland.

What follows after the construction is complete is final hook-up and commissioning, with first oil expected at the end of 2017. Clair Ridge is designed to continue producing until 2050 at a peak rate of more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

BP is the operator of the project. Other partners are ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Shell.