North Sea operator Premier Oil says it is closing in on a development decision for the Bream field after facing a ‘challenging’ last 12 months.
The company struck a deal last year to take BG Group’s stake in the 50million barrel discovery, and now expects to make a decision on a concept to develop the prospect in the next few weeks before final investment is approved in the second half of the year.
The company, which expects to post total revenues of around $1.5billion (£917million) for the full year, said it was targeting 13 drilling projects for 2014, aimed at opening up more than 160million barrels of oil equivalent.
The news comes as the company and partner Rockhopper confirmed a concept for the Sea Lion field off the Falkland Islands had been agreed, but funding decisions had been delayed again until next year.
“2013 was a challenging year for Premier and the wider industry as a whole,” said Premier chief executive Simon Lockett.
“It is however pleasing that production reached record levels towards the end of the year, that four new projects will achieve first oil and gas in 2014 and that our mid- to longer-term projects, including Bream, Catcher and Sea Lion, have taken significant steps forward.”
Production from Premier’s UK North Sea fields increased to an average of 14,900 barrels equivalent per day for the year, up from 12,000 in 2012, despite technical problems which plagued the Huntington fas field.
With restrictions now lifted on Huntington, December output from the North Sea more than doubled to 35,000 boed gross, while the Rochelle field was brought online and output at Wytch Farm was head of schedule.
The company said it was expecting more production problems from the Balmoral field, however, following the temporary shut-in of five wells last year, with further work planned on the site later in 2014.
The Solan North Sea prospect is due to deliver first oil later this year, while final negotiations are under way for the Catcher development with a view to starting up production in 2017.