Gas production has begun at the £150 million Easington Catchment Area (ECA) project, operated by BG International Limited on behalf of BG and co-venturers BP Amoco and Amerada Hess - only 13 months after the go-ahead for development was received from the DTI.

The ECA Phase 1 fields, Neptune and Mercury, located between 25 and 30 miles off the Yorkshire coast, have total gas reserves of 370 billion cubic feet (bcf). The gas is being produced through a subsea facility at Mercury, and an unmanned platform at Neptune. The combined production is then piped to a new riser platform next to the existing BP Amoco Cleeton facilities, from where it is exported through BP Amoco's Southern North Sea Pipeline System to their Dimlington terminal. Offshore operations on the ECA system will be carried out by BP Amoco.

Production of 250 mmscfd from the two fields will be maintained for three years, during which time BG and its partners are planning an appraisal programme which is expected to lead to further development of adjacent discoveries through the new infrastructure.

Frank Chapman, President of BG International, commented: "ECA is an example of exceptional partner and contractor co-operation to cut development cost and lead time, making such a step-out development economic even in a low-price environment. By prudent overlapping of project activities, this venture has come on stream just over one year since DTI approval, which is I believe an industry-leading performance.

"ECA is one of a number of planned projects which will drive a steep increase in BG International's worldwide oil and gas production, from 238 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 1998 towards our target of 425 thousand in 2003."

The drilling programme for the four Neptune wells and the two Mercury wells is being carried out using the Global Marine jack-up Glomar Adriatic XI. Three wells are now on stream, with the drilling programme scheduled to continue through the first quarter of next year.

The jackets and topsides for the Neptune platform and Cleeton riser tower were towed 300 miles to the fields, from the Brown and Root construction yard at Ardersier, near Inverness. The installation of the jackets and topsides was carried out from the crane barge Thialf. The Mercury manifold was installed by Northern Explorer, a multi-purpose vessel owned by EPTM UK Limited, who also laid the pipelines. BP Amoco has modified the Cleeton production platform, utilising the services of AMEC.

Note to Editors

Partners in the Neptune Field are BG International 61 per cent, BP Amoco 18 per cent, Amerada Hess 21 per cent.

Partners in Mercury are BG International 73 per cent, Amerada Hess 27 per cent.