What it takes to bring West of Shetland Onstream: Victory

With Conor Carleton and Lauren Ratcliffe of Adura.

Join the Programme Committee at our May evening technical presentation with Conor Carleton and Lauren Ratcliffe of Adura. Conor and Lauren's presentation will be followed by a two-course buffet dinner and ample time for networking. 

Abstract:

The Victory gas field is located within West of Shetland Block 207/01a (P2596), 48 km northwest of the Shetland Isles. Discovered in 1977 by Texaco, the license (P183) was relinquished in 2018 before being awarded to Corallian Energy in Dec 2020 (P2596). Just two years later Corallian Energy was acquired by Shell UK (now Adura) in Oct 2022 and license transferred on a 100% basis. In Jan 2024 FID was taken on the Victory development, just 14 months after acquisition. First Gas was achieved in September 2025, 20 months post-FID.

After almost 50 years as a stranded discovery, Victory’s time has finally come. The confluence of several factors has created a unique window of opportunity to develop the field: installation of gas infrastructure in the WoS; the availability of ullage in that system; and renewed focus on energy security in a lower-carbon world. However, this window of opportunity is also rapidly closing - adding the imperative to act fast.

During project execution the team relentlessly focused on delivering right first time while managing subsurface uncertainty, as the field is only modestly appraised. This strategy proved successful, with high-quality well-delivery preserving project schedule.

Speaker Bios:

Conor Carleton is a Subsurface Lead at Adura with over 12 years of industry experience spanning onshore, offshore, and subsea environments. With a background in Production Technology, he focuses on advancing West of Shetland gas opportunities. He brings broad expertise across the exploration, development, and production lifecycle, underpinned by a passion for end‑to‑end integration and ownership.

In his role, Conor has played a key part in Shell and Adura’s entry into the West of Shetland basin, contributing to the successful progression of the Victory gas development.

Lauren Ratcliffe is a Lead Well Engineer at Adura and brings over 18 years of experience to the team. Her expertise has been developed across a range of roles in interventions and completions, both on- and offshore.

Currently focused on Adura's West of Shetland portfolio, she is involved in all aspects of well design spanning drilling, completions and subsea equipment. She is committed to achieving seamless integration with the project team and service providers, an approach that provided a critical enabler to the success of the Victory project.