Canadian oil and gas operator Nexen announced an oil discovery yesterday in the Hobby exploration well, in block 20/1 in the outer Moray Firth.
The discovery is less than a mile west of its recent Golden Eagle discovery and just to the north of the giant Nexen-operated Buzzard field.
The company said appraisal and development options were being considered for the Golden Eagle area, which includes discoveries at Golden Eagle, Pink and now Hobby.
Co-venturers in Hobby are Nexen (operator with 34%), Maersk Oil North Sea UK (36%), PetroCanada (25%) and Edinburgh Oil and Gas (5%).
Nexen also said yesterday in posting results for 2008 that its strategy in the UK was working well and it had enjoyed exciting success with its exploration and exploitation programme.
It said Buzzard had been a great project for the group and was generating exceptional value for shareholders. Chief executive Marvin Romanow said: “Since we first acquired this asset, we have successfully increased our proved plus probable reserves by 101million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) or 49%, and extended our production plateau by three years.
“In 2009, Buzzard will continue to be a significant contributor to our cash flow and production volumes.
“Throughout the year, we will continue construction of the fourth platform containing production sweetening facilities designed to handle higher levels of hydrogen sulphide. During the third quarter, we plan to instal the jackets for this platform and complete tie-in operations, pending installation of the topsides.
“Our Ettrick development in the North Sea is progressing towards first oil in the next few months.
“We expect Ettrick to add around 10,000boe per day to our 2009 production volumes. We also have a discovery at Blackbird which could be a future tieback to Ettrick.
“We operate both Ettrick and Blackbird, with an 80% working interest in each.
“We recently drilled a successful appraisal well at Rochelle, in block 15/27 in the North Sea. The well encountered gas and condensate.
“We are evaluating future appraisal and fast-track development options and have a 44% non-operated working interest in this well.”
Nexen reported net income for 2008 of £963.48million compared with £610.11million the year before. Net sales for the year were £4.17billion, up from £3.14billion the previous year.
The company also has operations in Canada, Yemen, the US, offshore West Africa, Colombia and Norway.