Dana Petroleum report that on 11 January, first crude oil production began from the Van Ghent well located in block P11b within the Medway development area (Dana 50% and operator / EBN 50%).

The well, located on the Dutch continental shelf approximately 60kms north west of The Hague, will produce oil via the Dana operated De Ruyter platform.

The Van Ghent well is expected to produce about 2,000 boepd (net to Dana) in 2012, with an additional 2,000 boepd from the Van Nes well scheduled to commence production in April.

Commenting on the news, Dana's Managing Director in The Netherlands, Reidar Hustoft said: 'We are delighted to have brought Van Ghent into production, which is the culmination of months of hard work from the teams involved.'

'We successfully used innovative tri-lateral well technology for Van Ghent, which is a first not only for Dana but for the entire Dutch offshore industry. I'm also pleased to say that throughout the Medway project we have had no recordable health, safety or environmental incidents and look forward to working with our joint venture partner EBN to maintain these standards moving forward.'

'This brings Dana's number of producing fields to 47 internationally and marks a positive start to 2012 for the Dana and KNOC partnership.'

Tags: Dana Petroleum