Venture Production completes GKA pipeline

Venture Production plc, the Aberdeen headquartered UK independent oil and gas production company, announces that the new export pipeline linking the Kittiwake platform to the Forties Pipeline System (“FPS”) has been successfully completed and is now fully operational.

The new 10 inch, 33km pipeline has the capacity to flow up to 40,000 barrels of oil per day (”bopd”) and will process production from all the fields in the Greater Kittiwake Area (”GKA”), a central North Sea oil production hub operated and 50% owned by Venture.

Replacing the existing shuttle tanker and loading buoy system for oil export, the new pipeline is expected to substantially improve operational uptime, lower overall operating costs and allow GKA field life to be extended. It links the Kittiwake platform to BP’s Unity platform and the decision to invest in this new piece of North Sea infrastructure reflects Venture’s confidence that the GKA fields will continue to produce economic volumes for at least another decade. These volumes include current production from the existing Kittiwake, Mallard, Gadwall and Goosander fields as well as potential production from the Grouse field where an appraisal has been successfully drilled. In addition, as yet undeveloped discoveries including the Christian and Bligh fields may also benefit from the new export route.