Hurricane triples Lancaster estimate

HURRICANE Energy says it now estimates there is three times the amount of oil in its Lancaster field west of Shetland than previously thought.

In a presentation released on Friday, the oil company said it now believes there could be as much as 593 million barrels of recoverable oil in the field.

This in contrast to the previous figure of 200 million, which came from an assessment carried out in 2013. Hurricane expects to start producing oil from Lancaster in 2019.

Earlier this month the oil exploration company revealed the discovery of a one-kilometre hydrocarbon column at the Halifax well, which is linked to the existing Lancaster field.

The company said the region, which is known as the greater Lancaster area and located 60 miles west of Shetland, could produce over one billion barrels of oil.