Shell has confirmed that production has begun at its Victory gas field in the UK North Sea.
Victory is located around 47 kilometres north-west of the Shetland Islands and gas will be transported via existing pipeline infrastructure to the Shetland Gas Plant.
From there, it will be piped to the Scottish mainland at St Fergus near Peterhead and fed into the national gas network.
Peak production is estimated at around 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas (approximately 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day) at full capacity, which is enough gas to heat almost 900,000 homes per year.
According to the UK regulator, production of North Sea gas has declined by 10% in the last year and 61% of the UK’s gas supply in 2024 was imported.
Simon Roddy, Shell UK Upstream Senior Vice President, said: "Gas fields like Victory play a crucial role in the UK’s energy security, and the country will rely on them for decades to come.
"They provide an essential fuel we need now, and act as a partner to intermittent renewables as we move through the energy transition.
“By developing fields like Victory next to existing infrastructure, we are making sure our production in the UK North Sea remains cost competitive and reduces operational emissions.”
Most of the field’s recoverable gas is expected to be extracted by the end of the decade.
Victory will soon transfer to the new independent joint venture, Adura, which will be jointly owned by Shell (50%) and Equinor (50%).