Venture and Fairfield have each entered into a multiyear contract with Schlumberger for the provision of well fracture and stimulation services from the state of the art dedicated dynamically positioned (DP2) vessel the Siem Sailor. Venture and Fairfield have co-operated fully in negotiations to secure the vessel.

The vessel will be based in the North Sea and when not assigned to Venture or Fairfield's projects, will be made available to other operators for work in the UK, Dutch and Norwegian sectors.

The vessel has storage capacity for 2.5 million lbs of proppant, 315,000 gallons of fresh water, 10,000 gallons of liquid gel and a maximum pump pressure rating of 12,000 psi. In addition, the vessel has 13,550 hydraulic horse power (HHP) capacity, station keeping capability and the ability to perform emergency disconnection from the well if required.

The vessel is expected to enter service for Venture and Fairfield during the fourth quarter of 2009. The first Venture project under the new agreement is expected to be the Phase 2 development of the Chiswick gas field in the Southern North Sea whilst Fairfield plans to use the vessel for its Crawford and Clipper South developments in 2010.

Venture Chief Executive Mike Wagstaff commented, "After our success with Schlumberger and Siem during 2007 developing a temporary solution to stimulate the Chiswick development and Ensign appraisal wells, I am delighted that we have been able to create a long term partnership to enable us to develop our significant portfolio of ‘tight’ gas. This is consistent with our history of utilizing innovative technology and commercial arrangements to unlock 'stranded' reserves."

Fairfield Chief Executive Mark McAllister said, "Fracturing and stimulation technology will play an expanding role in the future of the UK North Sea. By working together to secure access to this technology Fairfield and Venture have demonstrated that independents can create material opportunities through co-operation which will ultimately improve recovery of reserves and business performance."

Tags: Fairfield Energy Ltd, Schlumberger, Venture Production plc