Oil Pumping at Huntington in North Sea

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The Huntington oil and gas field in the U.K. North Sea has begun producing its first oil.

The project, which has so far cost almost €500 million ($653 million), will have a production capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day according to E.ON Exploration & Production, part of German energy giant E.ON AG (PINK:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany). E.ON holds a 20% stake in the project alongside partners Premier (40 %), Noreco (20 %), and Iona Energy (15 %).

The company said Huntington will play a key role in its upstream business and estimates that the field has 27 million barrels oil equivalent (mboe) in gross reserves. Huntington is located 230-kilometers east of the British coast in water depths of approximately 90 meters. Project partner Noreco said that Huntington "will significantly increase the company's overall production and contribute to a substantial increase in cash flow".

The Huntington project includes the Voyageur Spirit FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading vessel, which has been specifically modified to meet the field requirements. It will oversee six wells and a 12km gas export pipeline connected to the BP CATS transportation system, allowing for export of gas to the U.K. mainland. The oil will be exported from the field with shuttle tankers.

E.ON Exploration & Production (E&P) is seen as a 'growth segment' within E.ON and is active also active in Norway, Russia and North Africa. The company expects to bring more fields on-stream in the coming years.

"Huntington will contribute significantly to the company's near-term production growth and implementation of our business strategy," said Frank Sivertsen, CEO of E.ON Exploration & Production.

In 2010, Wood Group plc (LSE:WG) (Aberdeen, Scotland) was awarded a five year operations and maintenance contract by Sevan Marine to provide asset management services for the Voyageur Spirit FPSO on the Huntington field. The company also held a similar contract for the Voyageur at the Shelley field, before its relocation to the Huntington field.

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