The trouble-hit Huntington oil field is still encountering problems despite an increase in production to around 20,000 barrels a day.
Despite this, the North Sea field is still only producing at about 50% capacity due to issues with BP’s CATS pipeline, which comes onshore at Teeside.
Aberdeen-based operator Premier Oil announced today that many of the restrictions on the field had been lifted resulting in increased production.
The field, which is operated by Premier Oil (40% interest), Noreco (20%), E.on (25%) and Iona Energy (15%), has the potential to produce around 40,000 barrels of oil a day.
Premier said it expected full production rates to return as remaining restrictions are removed.
A company spokesman said Premier was on track to meet its 2013 average production target of 57,000-59,000 barrels a day.
The original production forecast was downgraded in October from 65,000 barrels a day as a result of problems with the Huntington field and issues with the gas export pipeline from the company’s Chim Sáo interest in Vietnam.
The company also confirmed repairs to the Chim Sáo gas export pipeline had been completed and gas export restarted on November 23rd.
