The Blake oil field, located 64 miles from Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth, started production yesterday afternoon (June 27) - just 18 months after project sanction.

Excellent project execution and partner collaboration enabled first production to be achieved around two months ahead of target and 10 per cent below budget.

The field, operated by BG Group (44 per cent), in partnership with Talisman Energy UK Group (53.6 per cent) and Paladin Resources (2.4 per cent), has estimated gross field reserves of around 70 million barrels of oil. Development costs for the project totalled around £145 million. Plans are already in place for further drilling this year to appraise a possible extension to the field.

Frank Chapman, Chief Executive, BG Group, said: "Innovative strategies and exceptionally close partner collaboration have enabled us to realise the Blake project in a very short timeframe, so accessing today's strong oil prices.

"This venture provides further evidence of BG's world class project delivery capability and that our growth programme is on track. It also underlines our continuing commitment to the UK Continental Shelf."

The field will initially produce at an average daily flow rate of 40,000 barrels, with plans to increase production to 60,000 barrels later this year. The wells' output is exported via a pipeline link to the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the 'Bleo Holm', operated by Bluewater, on the nearby Talisman-operated Ross field.

A key factor in the project's success was close co-operation between BG, Talisman, Bluewater and the major contractors, Coflexip Stena (offshore facilities), McNulty Offshore (FPSO conversion) and Santa Fe drilling.

Blake is located in Blocks 13/24 and 13/29b in the northern North Sea. BG drilled the discovery well in March 1997 and four successful appraisal wells in 1998 and 1999.

Government approval for Blake's development was given in January 2000.

Notes to Editors

BG Group has one of the most significant exploration and production businesses in the UK Continental Shelf. It operates the Armada complex in the central North Sea and the Easington Catchment Area in the southern North Sea. It is a partner in more than 20 other producing fields. Earlier this month, BG announced the significant Buzzard oil find in the northern North Sea. Internationally, BG - The Integrated Gas Major - has operations in some 20 countries.

Talisman Energy UK Group is a subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc., one of the largest independent Canadian oil and gas producers with operations in Canada, the North Sea, Indonesia and Sudan. Talisman is also conducting exploration in the United States, Algeria, Trinidad and Colombia. The company's shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under the symbol TLM.

Paladin Resources: Paladin Resources plc is a British independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange, with interests in the UK and Norwegian North Sea, Indonesia, USA, Romania, Tanzania and Tunisia.