GAS has started to flow again from the Victoria field in the North Sea, which is operated by Aberdeen-based Bridge Energy.
Production at the field, which lies in the southern sector of the North Sea off the coast of Lincolnshire, was shut down on 30 November after a technical problem at the neighbouring Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System (Loggs).
Loggs is operated by New York-listed oil giant Conoco-Phillips and transports gas from several fields to Lincolnshire’s Theddlethorpe terminal.
Bridge yesterday announced the “gas export infrastructure system used by the Victoria field is now available and fully operational” and gas had started flowing again from its well on Boxing Day. ConocoPhillips holds a 25 per cent stake in the field.
News of the resumption of production came as Bridge also revealed that it will pay back some of its overdraft facility to Royal Bank of Scotland and Norwegian lender NIBC Bank.
The firm has a £42 million “reserve-base loan revolving credit facility” with the banks, which is in place until 2017.
Bridge – which was created in 2010 through the merger of Bridge Energy and Silverstone Energy – has decided to repay about £11m, leaving it with borrowings of about £13m.
Paying back some of its overdraft facility comes after a series of drilling successes for the firm, which struck oil twice in October with its Contender and Garantiana exploration wells.
Earlier this month, the driller found oil again, hailing a “significant” discovery in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea with its Asha exploration well.
The company, which is run by Scottish chief executive Tom Reynolds from Aberdeen but is registered in Norway, joined Aim in September and in November transferred from Oslo’s junior Axess market to a full listing on Norway’s main Børs.
