Nexen said yesterday the Buzzard oil field in the UK North Sea had reduced output to 30,000-50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) because of a technical problem.
The Canadian oil and gas company, which operates the UK North Sea’s biggest field, said, in a statement with its annual results: “We are currently investigating the cause and have temporarily reduced production volumes. Preliminary findings suggest that Buzzard will be operating at these reduced rates for the next several weeks.”
The reduced rate represents a sharp reduction from output in the fourth quarter of 2009, when output from Buzzard averaged a gross 200,000boepd, Nexen said.
The company also said that excellent 2009 proved-reserve additions of 184million boe had replaced more than 200% of its production during the year.
Nexen added it expected its North Sea volume to remain strong in 2010 with Buzzard producing at plateau rates, Ettrick ramping up and additional development drilling at Telford.
It also gave guidance that in 2010 its annual production would grow by about 4-6% and range from 230,000 to 280,000boepd.
Chief executive Marvin Romanov said: “In the North Sea, we are targeting several exploration and appraisal wells including a high-impact prospect west of Shetland and a potential extension of Buzzard.”
He added that Nexen had invested £425million in the North Sea last year including £130million on exploration. He said: “In just over five years, we’ve gone from having no presence in the UK North Sea to being the second largest oil producer there.”
Meanwhile, Forties operator Apache reported results and said that in 2009 international growth fuelled record production of 583,000boepd, up 9% from 2008.
It ended 2009 with proved reserves of 2.37billion boe after adding 216million barrels through discoveries, extensions and acquisitions. The company posted pre-tax losses of £182.3million for 2009 against profits of £456.4million the year before.
Revenue for the year was £5.52billion, down from £7.94billion in 2008.
The losses for 2009 included a £1.27billion, non-cash, post-tax reduction because of lower commodity prices at the start of the year.
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