Austrian oil, gas and power firm OMV said yesterday it had invested £33million in exploration and appraisal (E&A) and £55million in development spending in the UK North Sea in 2012.
Last year, the firm refocused its portfolio on upstream activities, investing in both the Norwegian and UK North Sea. Yesterday, it said it planned to spend about a further £1billion over four years in developing the Schiehallion and Rosebank projects west of Shetland and on the future development of the Jackdaw, Cambo and Tornado fields.
Drilling plans for 2013 involve three new E&A wells in the UK: Taggart, Marconi and the Cambo-5 appraisal well, which it hopes to start drilling late next month or early April.
A spokesman for the company said: “OMV’s requirement for a sustainable material business in the UK is to reach production of more than 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. . . before the end of the decade from our existing assets.”