Giant platform sections installed at Clair oil field

The Heerema Thialf heavy lift vessel was used to install the modules on jackets

A consortium of oil giants has reached another milestone in the development of a major North Sea field.

BP and co-venturers ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Shell said they had safely installed the first topside modules for the new Clair Ridge platform.

They include living quarters and a utilities section.

Clair Ridge is a £4.5bn investment in the second phase of development on the Clair field, which lies 75km to the west of the Shetland Islands.

It will comprise two new bridge-linked platforms and new pipeline infrastructure to connect storage and redelivery facilities on Shetland.

In the latest stage of development, the modules were lifted onto pre-installed jackets by the Heerema Thialf heavy lift vessel.

Together the sections weigh more than 16,000 tonnes.

The next major milestone will be installing the production and drilling platform topside modules, scheduled for summer 2016.

Production is expected to start in late 2017.

The development is forecast to produce about 640 million barrels of oil over 40 years.

Peak production is expected to reach up to 120,000 barrels per day.

The living quarters module was one of three involved in the latest stage of the development

The living quarters were safely set down during the heavy lifting operation