MAERSK Oil has underscored the appetite among major operators to continue to invest in the North Sea after unveiling plans to start production in the largest field to be discovered in the basin in more than a decade.

The Danish energy giant has handed a major boost to the beleaguered North Sea by pledging to invest £3 billion in the Culzean field, alongside venture partners JX Nippon and BP (Britoil).

The project, which will see production start in 2019, is expected to create more than 400 direct jobs, as well as support around 6,000 in the UK. A spokesman for Maersk said the majority of the direct jobs created will be based in Scotland, and split broadly evenly between onshore and offshore roles.

It provides a massive fillip to a sector hammered by thousands of job cuts in recent months since the price of oil began to plunge last year. The price of a barrel of Brent crude slumped from $115 last summer to under $50 in recent months, and was trading at around $52 per barrel last night.

Maersk itself highlighted the challenges facing the North Sea, where the industry is battling ageing infrastructure and high operating costs, by applying for consent to decommission the Janice platform last week. The platform produces around 7,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from three North Sea oilfields.

Asked what has given it the confidence to sanction the Culzean project at a time of such uncertainty in the North Sea, a Maersk spokesman highlighted “the size of the resources, the efficiency with which we have planned the development and the fiscal allowance from the UK Government.”

The fiscal incentive Maersk refers to is the High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) Cluster Area Allowance. Introduced by George Osborne in his March Budget, it aims to make HPHT projects in the North Sea viable by adjusting the amount of projects subject to the Supplementary Charge.

HPHT projects typically involve significantly higher capital costs and the allowance aims to encourage exploration and appraisal activity in the surrounding area or cluster.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) states on its website that the portion of profits reduced by the allowance will depend on companies’ investment expenditure and will be generated at 62.5 per cent of that spend. The supplementary charge itself was reduced to 20 per cent from 30 per cent under measures to boost North Sea production in the March budget.

The Culzean field in the UK Central North Sea, discovered in 2008, is the largest to be sanctioned for development by the UK government since East Brae in 1990. At peak production in 2020/21, it is expected to produce enough gas to meet five per cent of total UK output. Production is scheduled to start in 2019 and continue for at least 13 years, reaching a plateau of between 60,000 and 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

Maersk Oil, which holds a 49.99 per cent interest, JX Nippon (34.01 per cent) and 16 per cent stakeholder BP (Britoil) are investing £3bn in the development, with more than 50 per cent of that committed to the UK. It is anticipated that £2.1bn in operating expenditure will be spent in the UK.

The project was welcomed by industry body Oil and Gas UK. Chief executive Deirdie Michie said: “This investment by Maersk Oil and its co-venturers, in this technically demanding HPTP field, is very encouraging at this challenging time for the industry and reinforces the fact the UK Continental Shelf continues to have much to offer.”

Maersk Oil chief executive Jakob Thomasen said: “Culzean is an important development for the UK and also for Maersk Oil and our co-venturers. We are pleased the field will support UK economic growth as well as extend understanding of the HPHT development.

“Culzean is the latest in a series of large investments by Maersk Oil in the North Sea where we are active in Denmark, Norway and the UK – reflecting our commitment to the future of the North Sea region.”

Maersk employs around 850 staff in the North Sea, and produced in the region of 40,000 bopd from the basin last year. The spokesman said: “Like most other operators in the UK North Sea, we have had to make some tough decisions, but today is about building a new leg of growth for our UK business as we seek to become a top five operator in the North Sea region.”