Chevron throws doubt on Rosebank North Sea development
LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. oil firm Chevron (Xetra: CHV.DE - news) said on Friday the development of its North Sea Rosebank project was not currently economically attractive, raising doubts about a resurgence of the North Sea as fears rise over costs.
Chevron said Rosebank, which is located west of Shetland in the UK North Sea, "does not currently offer an economic value proposition that justifies proceeding with an investment of this magnitude."
Statoil (Xetra: DNQ.DE - news) sold its stake in the oil and gas development earlier this year to OMV (LSE: 0MKH.L - news) of Austria.
Chevron's hesitation is a blow for the prospects west of Shetland, a region crucial to plans to revive production in the British North Sea.
Chevron said the Rosebank project remained in the initial engineering phase with a final investment decision planned for 2014.
The company said it would continue to work with partners OMV (Dusseldorf: OMV.DU - news) and Denmark's Dong to improve the viability of the project.