The boss of new UK North Sea oil and gas operator EnQuest said yesterday that significant growth opportunities lay ahead.
The listed company has more than £100million to spend on potential deals.
Chief executive Amjad Bseisu said it was a little over a month since EnQuest came into existence.
He added: “We have been working hard on integrating the company into one team focused on delivering our execution and growth targets.
“We see significant opportunities ahead for organic growth and inorganic growth (through business development such as acquisitions) and our expectations at listing have been reinforced.”
EnQuest was formed in early April in a spin-off of assets by British energy service group Petrofac and Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum.
Petrofac shareholders initially owned 45% of EnQuest after contributing the West Don and Don Southwest assets and Eike discovery to the new company, and Lundin investors initially owned 55% after putting the Heather, Broom, Thistle, and Deveron fields and Peik, South West Heather and Scolty finds into the new entity.
EnQuest said in an interim management statement issued yesterday that it was on track to produce about 18,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year.
Drilling in 2010 was said to be proceeding according to programme. The second of the Don Southwest production wells (DR2z) came on stream in early March, following the drilling of a sidetrack well.
EnQuest said production from both Don Southwest and West Don benefited significantly from the conversion to pipeline export via the Thistle platform from tanker export operations.
At Thistle, a first workover well A46 has been completed, adding an additional 600 barrels of oil per day to production with the fitting of a jet pump to assist with extraction. At Broom, the pipeline augmentation project continued, with key offshore construction activities due to start soon.
EnQuest said year-to-date production had been in line with expectations, while key operational activities were due to be completed this year with new wells brought on stream on Don Southwest, Broom and Thistle.
The London-based company has 90%-plus of its 220 staff and contractors working in or out of Aberdeen, based at Petrofac’s Consort House in the city’s harbour area.