Premier Oil starts production at Huntingdon Field

FTSE 250-listed Premier Oil has reported that oil production from the Huntington field in the UK Central North Sea commenced on Friday April 12th.

The group reported that after an initial ramp-up period, the field is expected to produce 25-30 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day gross.

Simon Lockett, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted to have achieved first oil from the Huntington oil field. This marks the first of four UK North Sea projects from our development portfolio which will come on-stream over the next few years.

"We look forward to the field making a significant contribution to our worldwide production and cash flow growth."

The Huntington development uses the Voyageur Spirit floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), which the group said had been specifically modified to meet field requirements.

Huntington is located approximately 230 kilometres offshore in water depths of approximately 90 metres. The facilities will have an initial production capacity of approximately 30 thousand barrels of oil per day.

The partners in the Huntington field are Premier, E.ON Exploration and Production, Noreco and Iona Energy.

MF