Ithaca Energy leaps on promising North Sea news

11th Sep 2013 11:29

News of an 'enormous leap forward' at its main development oil field invigorated shares in North Sea producer Ithaca Energy.The AIM- and Toronto-listed company revealed the first test well at its Greater Stella Area property had produced a good flow and high quality of oil.Chief Executive Officer Iain McKendrick said: "This well and the highly successful test are outstanding results for the company. This is an enormous leap forward in de-risking of the Greater Stella Area development and the creation of a major new production hub in the UK Central North Sea." He confirmed that the 'A1' development well had accessed the reserves it was designed to recover and that the test confirmed the presence and "extremely high quality and deliverability" of the reservoir sands.The well flowed at a maximum rate of 10,835 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with high oil content corresponding to 6,499 barrels of oil per day and 26 million standard cubic feet per day of 'liquids rich' gas.Ithaca added that the full production potential of the well was limited by the capacity of the well test equipment on the drilling rig.McKendrick added: "When these results are combined with progress that has been made on both the successful execution of the 2013 subsea installation works and the FPF-1 modifications programme, the development can be seen to be confidently driving forward at pace."Shares in Ithaca were up 18.6% at 150p at 11:37 on Wednesday. OH