Equinor prepares to drill Rosebank field in UK North Sea

(WO) — Equinor is preparing to begin drilling operations for the Rosebank field development west of Shetland, marking a key milestone for one of the UK Continental Shelf’s largest undeveloped oil and gas projects.

The Rosebank field lies about 130 km (81 miles) northwest of the Shetland Islands in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, in water depths of roughly 1,100 m (3,608 ft).

The development plan includes drilling four production wells and three water-injection wells during the first phase, with the potential for additional wells in a later phase depending on early results.

Produced hydrocarbons will be transported through new subsea flowlines to a redeployed floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), where the fluids will be processed before export. Gas from the project will be transported through a new pipeline linked to the West of Shetland Pipeline System, while oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers.

Subsea installation work began in 2024, with first drilling planned in early 2026 and first oil targeted in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to project documentation.

The Rosebank development is expected to operate for approximately 25 years once production begins.

Equinor is the operator of the project on behalf of license partners Equinor UK Ltd. and Ithaca SP E&P Ltd.