BP has doubled its interest in a major gas field in the North Sea.

It is part of the oil giant’s five-year £7 billion investment programme.

Its stake has been raised in the Culzean development, operated by Maersk Oil, from 16% to 32%.

The field, which was sanctioned at the end of August last year, is expected to produce enough gas to meet 5% of the UK’s demand at peak production in 2020/21.

Discovered in 2008, it has resources estimated at 250 million to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Production is expected to start in 2019 and continue into the 2030s, with plateau production of between 60,000 to 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Mark Thomas, BP Regional President North Sea Region said: “This is a challenging time for the industry and we must continue to work together to ensure that when developments like Culzean or other projects such as BP’s Quad 204 and Clair Ridge come online they can be run as efficiently as possible.”

The government said the Energy Bill, which received Royal Assent last week, will give new powers to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) “to better support” the industry.