The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Spirit Energy gives Chestnut field three-year extension
Oil and gas firm Spirit Energy has given the Chestnut field in the UK North Sea a three-year extension after drilling a new production well.
Spirit and partner Dana Petroleum have invested £56 million in the well, which came on stream this month, as well as a contract extension for Teekay’s Hummingbird Spirit floating production storage and offloading vessel – unlocking an extra 2.5m barrels of oil.
Chestnut, 125 miles north-east of Aberdeen, is delivering well for Spirit, which has an 83% stake, while Dana has 17%.
The field was only expected to pump oil for a little over two years when it first came online more than a decade ago, but is still going strong.
Combined capital and operating expenditure over the next three years on Chestnut will total around £140m.
First gas from a new well at Spirit’s Chiswick field was also achieved this month, adding an additional 15m standard cubic feet of gas per day.
Chiswick, around 75 miles off the Norfolk coast, has been producing gas since 2007.
Neil McCulloch, executive vice-president technical and operated assets, Spirit, said: “The industry faces unprecedented challenges but, taken together, the additional gas and oil from Chiswick and Chestnut provide a boost to production from two UK fields at a time when the secure supply of energy is critical.”