Venture Production, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas operator, said yesterday it had successfully brought the Grouse oil field into production.
It has a 50% interest in the field and is the operator, with fellow Aberdeen company Dana Petroleum holding the remaining 50%.
Grouse lies in block 21/19 in the central North Sea and has been developed with a single subsea production well tied back to the Venture-operated Kittiwake platform, the production hub for its Greater Kittiwake Area (GKA) operations.
Initial well productivity is in line with previous estimates of about 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) net to Venture.
The pipeline required for the Grouse field was laid at the same time as that required for the Chestnut and Stamford fields, both of which have also come on stream during 2008, with the single campaign approach delivering significant development cost savings, Venture said.
Grouse has also made use of a pipeline tie-in point that was installed during the construction of the Goosander infrastructure in 2006. Venture-operated Goosander also lies in the GKA production hub and came into production in August 2006.
In addition to the success of bringing Grouse on stream, the Mallard field was also returned to production in mid-December.
Venture chief executive Mike Wagstaff said: “Grouse is the third new GKA satellite we have brought into production since taking over operatorship five years ago.
“We continue to work through our deep inventory of lower-risk projects as well as replenishing that inventory through acquisition, with 11 new deals this year alone.
“Venture is now capitalising on the operational momentum and balance-sheet strength created over the last few years and we look forward to continuing to grow and develop the business.”
GKA, including the Grouse field, was acquired by Venture and Dana in April 2003 from previous operator Shell UK and Esso Exploration and Production UK.
