HOUSTON, May 17 (UPI) -- Apache Corp. said an extension well in the British waters of the North Sea had the highest oil production rate since any other in the region since 2001.
Managing Director of Apache North Sea operations Jim House said the company encountered more than 300 feet of pay at the Beryl field in British waters of the North Sea.
"This is one of the best wells drilled in the past 10 years in the Beryl field and we expect it to open up further development opportunities," he said in a statement.
The company said it would conduct a new seismic survey of the area this summer, its first since 1997.
A production rate of 11,625 barrels of oil per day and 13.1 million cubic feet of natural gas per day was achieved from the Beryl-1 reservoir.
Apache, which has headquarters in Houston, acquired the field from Exxon Mobil last year. It serves as the operator of the field with a 50 percent stake alongside Hess Ltd, Enterprise Oil Ltd. and Austrian energy company OMV.
