THE value of the North Sea to oil giant BP’s global portfolio will be stressed at a conference in Aberdeen by group chief executive Bob Dudley.

Dudley has called the area one of the company’s “crown jewels”, and will lead the opening session of an event held by the Society of Petroleum Engineers to be held in September.

The gathering is expected to attract hundreds of delegates, with it being the biggest exploration and production conference outside North America.

Bob Dudley became group chief executive in 2010, and has been responsible for operations in Russia, the Caspian region, Angola, Algeria, and Egypt.

Over the next year BP expects to bring two large North Sea developments into production, and to participate in five exploration wells, along with around 50 development wells over the next three years.

BP’s North Sea production output is expected to double from 2015 levels to 200,000 barrels of oil a day by 2020.