British oil firm BP today trumpeted a newly producing oil and gas field in the Norwegian Sea as an “important” source of gas for Europe.

The Skarv field which BP operates and partly owns is roughly 210km west of the Norwegian coast and began producing on New Year’s Eve.

It has an estimated 100 million barrels of oil and condensate in reach, as well as more than 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. BP owns a fifth of the field (23.84%) and will ramp up production at Skarv and expects it to reach around a monthly average of 125,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in the next six months.

Rebecca Wiles, BP Norway’s managing director said: “Skarv will be a very important hub for BP in Norway, contributing significantly to our production growth from Norway and representing an important new source of gas to Europe.”

Norwegian supplier Statoil, German company E.ON and Polish oil and gas firm PGNiG are also partners in the project.