Apache Corporation said that the third well in the Bacchus Field in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea has pushed field production past 17,600 barrels of oil per day. Apache has a 50 percent interest in the field.

The Bacchus B-1 development well, which commenced production in July, currently is producing 9,400 barrels of oil per day. Apache logged 2,057 feet net oil pay along a horizontal completion segment in high quality Jurassic-aged Fulmar sandstone in the field's western fault block. Oil from the Bacchus Field is produced through a subsea tie-back to Apache's Forties Alpha platform.

Following the recent success at Bacchus, Apache has extended its current Forties 3-D seismic survey area to cover other Jurassic development and exploration targets in Apache licenses in the Bacchus area. The seismic survey is expected to be completed in September.

Apache has brought three new fields — Bacchus, Maule and Tonto — on production in the Forties area since 2009. All three developments qualified under the United Kingdom government's small field allowance system, which provides economic incentives for operators to bring these discoveries into production.

"Utilizing existing infrastructure within the Forties Field area enables Apache to bring these smaller discoveries on production in a cost-effective manner for the benefit of all stakeholders," said James L. House, region vice president and managing director of Apache North Sea. "A little more than a year after first production, Bacchus has produced 3 million barrels of oil and has already paid out."

About Apache
Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) is an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Canada, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Australia and Argentina.