VENTURE Production, the oil and gas operator which has its headquarters in Aberdeen, said yesterday that its production during the period January 1 to April 1 averaged 51,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) – up 15% on the same period last year.
It said key contributors to growth were the Chestnut, Grouse and Stamford fields, which started production in the second half of last year. Venture said that following the recent start-up of stabilised production from a second Chestnut production well, group production had averaged about 60,000 boepd.
It said drilling success on the first Cygnus appraisal well and the Carna discovery, together with further evaluation of the Chiswick field had already increased its proved and probable reserves from 214million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) at the end of 2008 to around 240million boe at the end of the first quarter.