THE Buzzard oil field, one of Britain’s largest, will shut down for four weeks in the third quarter of this year, Canadian field operator Nexen said yesterday.
The shutdown for tie-in and installation of a fourth platform will reduce supply of Forties crude, one of four North Sea crude blends used in the benchmark that values oil produced in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Nexen said the shutdown was scheduled to coincide with an expected slowdown of the Forties pipeline for maintenance.
The 700,000 barrel-a-day Forties pipeline carries up to half of Britain’s North Sea oil output from 70 fields. Nexen said the work at Buzzard would enable the company to handle higher levels of hydrogen sulphide and maintain peak production until at least 2014.
Oil traders said the Buzzard shutdown would probably support North Sea crude oil prices.
Also yesterday, Nexen reported first-quarter profits down 79% on a year earlier as a result of the plunging price of crude oil. The company said net income in the period fell to £75.84million, while net sales dropped by 44% to some £590million.
Nexen’s oil and gas production during the quarter was 225,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 1% on a year earlier.
Buzzard contributed a quarterly record of 93,000boepd to production.
Fellow Canadian operator Petro-Canada, which is in the process of being acquired by another Canadian company Suncor Energy, posted lower-than-expected quarterly profits yesterday on lower oil prices.
Petro-Canada – whose shareholders are being offered an all-share deal worth more than £10billion to create Canada’s biggest energy firm – reported operating profits of £62.36million, down by 88% from a year earlier.
It also reported net losses of £26.4million compared with profits of £606.74million for the first quarter of 2008.
Cash flow, a measure of an oil company’s ability to fund projects, was 62% lower year-on-year at £394.38million.
Petro-Canada, which has a near-30% stake in Buzzard, said it would cut 2009 capital spending by £337million to £1.9billion.
The company said its overall production averaged 410,000boepd for the period, down 4% on a year earlier.
It said the average volume reflected decreased North American natural gas, east coast Canada and international output, partially offset by increased production from oil sands.
Oil prices fell yesterday but bounced off early lows on US data showing better consumer confidence. June crude in New York was down 22 cents at $49.92 a barrel, while In London, Brent crude was off 33 cents at $49.99.