High earner

Venture Production, the Aberdeen-based North Sea oil and gas company, has announced record earnings for 2008.

The company, which acquires, develops and brings into production undeveloped oil and gas fields in the UK and Dutch sectors of the North Sea, reported a 38 per cent increase in revenue to £494.9m. The higher sum, which was £358.3m in 2007, is reportedly due to increased production volumes and commodity prices. The company reported that average production increased by nine per cent, which is equivalent to 45,006 barrels of oil per day.

Even when operating expenses are subtracted, Venture claims this extra production helped it generate a total of £305m, which represents a 27 per cent rise for the year.

‘After a challenging start to 2008, Venture delivered increased production levels, which combined with high oil and gas prices resulted in a record financial performance,’ said Mike Wagstaff, chief executive of Venture.