Hurricane Energy gets approvals for Lancaster field development plan

UK-based oil and gas company Hurricane Energy announced on Monday that it received development and production consent for its Lancaster field development plan, the ‘Early Production System’.

The AIM-traded firm said that with funding and regulatory approvals now in hand, the company could now “fully focus” on delivering the project within the target timeline of first oil in the first half of 2019.

It said the Lancaster EPS was an “essential step” in planning for the full field development of the company's Rona Ridge assets, and was also a “substantial development” in its own right, with planned production of 17,000 barrels of oil per day.

“I would like to thank the Oil and Gas Authority, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and the Health & Safety Executive for their support in our achieving the first approval of a field development plan for a UK basement field,” said chief executive Dr Robert Trice.

“This is an important step in demonstrating the potential of basement West of Shetland and in the UKCS more generally.”