Capable of supplying 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to the Elgin/Franklin hub, the West Franklin project involves drilling three wells and deploying two new platforms including the West Franklin wellhead platform and the Elgin B platform.
The West Franklin Phase 2 project is expected to develop reserves of 85 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The gas and condensate from West Franklin, which is located 240km east of Aberdeen and just 6.5kms from the main Elgin platform, will be processed at the Elgin platform prior to exporting to the UK mainland through the SEAL pipeline to Bacton for gas and FPS pipeline to Kinneil for condensate.
Production of the West Franklin Phase 1 began in 2007 with two wells drilled from the Franklin platform.
The Elgin/Franklin, including West Franklin, project is being operated by Total with 46.2% stake while other stakeholders include BG Group (14.1%), Eni (21.9%), E.ON (5.2%), ExxonMobil (4.3%), Chevron (3.9%), Summit (2.2%) and Dyas (2.2%).
BG Group Europe E&P business managing director Ernst den Hartigh said: "We are pleased to see first production from the West Franklin field which will help extend the life of this important North Sea hub.
"By working closely with Total and other JV partners we have contributed and extended our knowledge of High Pressure High Temperature gas developments which is key to our UK strategy."
Total is scheduled to start production from its new third hub located in the West of Shetland area, in 2015, with the start-up of the Laggan-Tormore project.
Image: Total operates the West Franklin project in the UK North Sea. Photo: courtesy of BG Group 2015.
