Skip Navigation LinksHome     Media Centre     Press Release Archive     2007

Press Release

Search News 
 
 

Stock Exchange Annnouncement 8 January 2007

First oil from Buzzard field in UK North Sea

Oil production from the Buzzard field in the UK North Sea began on Sunday 7th January 2007, BG Group and its co-venturers announced today.

Buzzard is one of the largest field developments in the UK North Sea in more than a decade. With estimated recoverable reserves of over 500 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) it has the potential to deliver approximately 10% of the UK’s annual forecast oil demand at peak rates.

The field is operated by Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited and is located 100 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth, Central North Sea. BG Group holds a 21.73% interest in the field which has cost a total of £1.5 billion to develop. Peak production - expected this year – is forecast to be around 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 60 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

Mark Carne, BG Executive Vice President for Europe and Central Asia said:

"I am delighted to announce the delivery of first oil from the Buzzard field only three years after development approval from the Government. BG drilled the discovery well in May 2001 and has been involved throughout the development of this major North Sea find.  

"BG is a long-established investor and operator in the North Sea and we remain committed to investing the resources and expertise required to maximise production from the UK’s natural resources." 

Notes to Editors:

BG Group plc is a global natural gas business. Active on five continents in over 25 countries, it operates four business segments – Exploration and Production, LNG, Transmission and Distribution and Power.

Discovered in 2001, Buzzard is located in 317 feet of water approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth. The field straddles two licences – P986 (Blocks 19/10 and 20/6) and P928 (Blocks 19/5a and 20/1s). The crude quality produced from Buzzard is 32 degree API and is exported through an 18 inch pipeline to the Forties Pipeline System. The oil produced will be processed at the BP Kinneil facility. Gas from Buzzard will be exported through a 10-inch pipeline on the UK Frigg pipeline to the St Fergus Gas Terminal.

Estimated recoverable reserves are in excess of 500mmboe from an estimated total of 1.2 billion barrels of oil in place

Buzzard is operated by Nexen Petroleum U.K. Ltd (43.21254%). The other Joint Venture partners are:
Petro-Canada UK Ltd (29.89122%), BG Group plc (21.73307%) and Edinburgh Oil & Gas Limited (5.16317%).

BG Group has interests in over 20 UKCS fields. It is active in 87 blocks in the UK North Sea, and is operator in 44 of them. BG Group operates the Armada, Maria and Seymour fields in the Central North Sea, the Blake and Atlantic fields in the Outer Moray Firth, and some of the Easington Catchment Area fields in the Southern North Sea (Neptune, Mercury, Minerva and Apollo).

Enquiries:

Communications:
+ 44 (0) 118 929 2462

Out of hours media assistance:
+ 44 (0)7917 185 707

Investor Relations
+ 44 (0) 118 929 3025
 
There are matters discussed in this media information that are forward looking statements. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. For a discussion of important factors which could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements, refer to the Company’s annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2005. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly, or revise, forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Cautionary note to US investors – The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. In this announcement we use the term “undeveloped gas” and in Notes to Editors we use the term “indicated gross reserves” that the SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. US investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No. 1-09337, available from us at BG Group, 100 Thames Valley Park Drive, Reading RG6 1PT. You may read and copy this information at the SEC's public reference room, located at 100 F Street NE, Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. This filing is also avail able at the internet website maintained by SEC at http://www.sec.gov

Share Price

LSE
1013.00p

Market data delayed by 20 minutes