Centrica Energy has announced that it will extend its contract for the Hummingbird Spirit until March 2016.

The cylindrical FPSO, owned by Teekay, has been operating on Centrica Energy's Chestnut field in the Central North Sea since 2008 and has already produced over 13 million barrels of oil. The Chestnut field, located 200km north-east of Aberdeen, is currently producing around 7,000 barrels per day.

The field was initially expected to produce around seven million barrels of oil over three years. However, work undertaken by Centrica Energy means that the Chestnut field is now expected to produce significantly more, with recoverable reserves estimated to be around 18 million barrels. This has included developing a water injection side-track well, sustaining high production efficiency and maintaining a strong working relationship with Teekay, the Duty Holder Wood Group PSN and our partners.

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Colette Cohen, Centrica Energy's Senior Vice-President for the UK and Netherlands, said: "This announcement to extend production at our Chestnut field shows, once again, that our efforts to optimise recovery from our North Sea assets are paying off.

"Centrica Energy is making good progress towards its international production goal and our UK operations will continue to play an important part of our success story, as we invest in new and existing projects."

(CD/JP)