First oil hurricane in an oil field west of Shetland

Exploration and production company Hurricane Energy announced today that it has obtained the first oil from its flagship Lancaster deposit west of the Shetland.

The London-listed company said the start-up phase of the Aoka Mizu vessel was completed with a 72-hour production test.

The hurricane declared that Lancaster had become the "first fractured basement production field in the UK".

The two production wells in the field achieved and maintained the target production rate of 20,000 barrels of oil per day during the test.

Led by CEO Robert Trice, Hurricane was created to carry oil from naturally fractured basement reservoirs in the Rona Ridge area, west of the Shetland.

Lancaster, discovered in 2009, holds more than 500 million barrels of oil and is 100% owned by Hurricane.

However, there is some uncertainty about the possibility of providing a large volume of these reserves, due to the fractured and unpredictable nature of the basin.

That's why Hurricane initially developed Lancaster using an Early Production System (EPS) to learn more about the field and how to move toward field development.

The hurricane allocates 37.3 million barrels of proved and probable reserves to BPA, which is expected to last six years and produce an average of 17,000 barrels a day.

Dr. Trice said, "I am pleased to announce that the first oil has been completed and the Lancaster field is in production, which has progressively expanded Hurricane's considerable resources on Rona Ridge.

"Lancaster is the first fractured basement production area in the UK, and the fact that Hurricane has allowed this step in the industry to meet the industry on time and on budget is an incredible feat.

"I would like to thank the Hurricane staff, our front-line contractors and our shareholders for having the vision to make Lancaster a reality."

"We have achieved our start-up data acquisition goals and started evaluating this material.

"It will take up to 12 months of stable production to provide a clear view of the reservoir and allow us to plan badociated full-field development scenarios."