Canadian oil and gas firm Nexen said yesterday production from the Buzzard field rose 71% in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year, helping boost revenue.
Nexen’s share of production in the field, which it operates, rose to an average of 84,000 barrels of oil per day (boepd) compared with 49,000 in the second quarter of last year, it said. The boost from the North Sea – and production from the its new Usan development off Nigeria – helped increase second-quarter revenues to £1.01billion, compared with £948million in the same period last year, the firm said.
However, pre-tax profits were down at £323million in the second quarter, compared with £569million in the second quarter of 2011, due to an unsuccessful exploration well called Kakuna in the Gulf of Mexico, Nexen said.
Nexen also said yesterday that production from Buzzard would be shut in for a turnaround and inspection starting early September.
However, the firm said a recent appraisal well on Buzzard, in which it holds 43% equity, had been successful and plans were now under way to drill a side track.
Work on its £2billion Golden Eagle development was also progressing to schedule and on budget.
The firm said about the second quarter: “Buzzard operations were very strong, the facility produced 194,000 boepd, 84,000 net to Nexen, with a production efficiency of 88%, which exceeded our target of 85%.
“We plan to begin a scheduled major vessel inspection and turnaround at Buzzard in the first week of September.
“Production will be shut-in for several weeks – the facility is expected to return to full rates by mid-October. The Golden Eagle development continues to progress towards first oil in late 2014. Construction is on time and on budget.”
Buzzard was hit by production issues late last year and early this year.
Nexen also said it was planning downtime on its Scott platform in the third quarter to carry out work ahead of tying in the Rochelle subsea development – due on stream near the end of the year – as well as platform maintenance work.
Nexen is a partner in the deepwater North Uist well currently being drilled by BP west of Shetland. It said results from were expected in the third quarter.
The North Sea counts for about 40% of Nexen’s total production.
Globally, Nexen’s production averaged 213,000 boepd, up from 204,000 boepd in the same period last year.
In the Gulf of Mexico the firm is exploring its Appomattox discovery. It also has exploration offshore West Africa and its oil sands project at Long Lake, Alberta, Canada.
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