Shell UK undertook the development of its Victory gas field with an ambitious schedule that required careful planning and execution. The project followed the company’s final investment decision and came three years after acquiring the asset in 2022.

Victory Field is located 47-km northwest of the Shetland Islands in the UK North Sea. The development involved extracting gas from about 200 ft of net gas pay within Lower Cretaceous sandstones through a single subsea well.

Drilling operations were carried out using the Stena Don semisubmersible rig, with a subsea tieback to the existing Greater Laggan Area infrastructure. From there, produced gas would be transported to the Shetland Gas Plant for onshore processing.

The challenge centered on integrating new subsea facilities with existing infrastructure, managing technical complexity, and ensuring reliable operations in a remote offshore environment.

To meet the schedule, TechnipFMC proposed its integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI™ ) execution model and was awarded the iEPCI contract in 2023.

The project demanded a suite of specialized subsea systems and infrastructure. Central to the effort was the design and manufacture of a production tree, wellheads, tubing hanger, control systems, and a multiphase flowmeter . This was Shell UK’s first 7-in. bore tree installed in the UK.

The scope included site integration testing and construction of a 14-in., 16-km carbon steel pipeline with pipeline end manifolds, alongside an 18-km controls umbilical linking the Victory wellsite to a manifold at a neighboring gas field. The pipeline was connected using 10-in. rigid spools on one end and a 250-m-long flexible pipe at the other. Subsea asset protection was provided with a combination of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) covers, concrete mattresses, and subsea rock installation.

The project concluded with pre-commissioning and commissioning operations to ensure operational integrity before first gas.

The collaborative one-team approach between Shell UK and TechnipFMC enabled delivery of first gas safely and ahead of schedule. First gas successfully flowed on September 28, 2025, meeting the target and marking a major milestone for the Victory project.

As Shell UK Upstream Senior Vice President Simon Roddy noted, “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.”

Peak production at about 150 million standard cubic feet per day of gas (approximately 225,00 barrels of oil equivalent per day) at full capacity will be enough to heat 900,000 homes per year. By utilizing existing onshore and offshore infrastructure, the Victory project significantly reduces emissions and boosts operational sustainability.