BP, Shell slate big U.K. North Sea development.(BP Exploration Company, Shell U.K. Exploration & Production)

BP Exploration Co. Ltd. and Shell U.K. Exploration & Production have begun work on a 1.6 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) development of seven U.K. North Sea fields known as the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP).

Total estimated reserves for the fields are 400 million bbl of oil, 35 million bbl of condensate, and 1.1 tcf of gas. Fields involved are BP-operated Marnock, Mungo, Monan, and Machar and Shell's Heron, Egret, and Skua.

Elsewhere off Northwest Europe:

* In the Norwegian North Sea, Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS let a 1.2 billion kroner ($185 million) contract to Kvaerner Installasjon AS, Stavanger, for modification of Gullfaks A platform in Block 34/10.

* Clyde Petroleum Exploratie BV of The Hague secured Netherlands government approval to develop three small gas fields in the Dutch North Sea with novel, unmanned, reusable, jack up platforms.

* BHP Petroleum Ltd. began gas production from North Hamilton field, part of its 1.1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) …