Premier Oil's North Sea Catcher development wins UK backing

12th Jun 2014 08:07

Premier Oil said on Thursday that it is "pleased" after the UK government approved the Field Development Plan (FDP) for its Catcher Block in the North Sea.Operator Premier has a 50% interest in Catcher, which is expected to produce 96m barrels of oil equivalent with a peak output rate of around 50,000 barrels per day. UK-listed Cairn Energy also owns a 30% stake in the project while Hungarian firm MOL holds the remaining 20%.Following the FDP approval by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Energy Minister Michael Fallon said that there continues to be an "extraordinary level of interest in North Sea oil and gas, which is excellent news for industry and for the whole of the UK"."The project represents over £1bn of investment and almost all of the subsea expertise and equipment needed for this development is being supplied by British companies right across the country," he said.The project includes the drilling of 22 subsea wells on the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields.Premier said that all major service contracts have been awarded and the project is now in the execution phase with first oil expected in mid-2017. "Having discovered Catcher in 2010, we are extremely pleased to have brought the Catcher area through the development approval process," said Premier's Chief Executive Simon Lockett. "Once on-stream this project, which has been facilitated by the government's small field allowances, will underpin our growing cash flows." BC