North Sea oil firm EnQuest has reported strong production growth and confirmed its £4bn Kraken field project off Shetland is proceeding to plan.

The company said oil production was up 25% on the same period last year.

Aberdeen-based EnQuest is also “well on track” to produce an average of 25,000-30,000 barrels of oil per day for the full year.

It said preparatory work on Kraken was continuing ahead of planned appraisal drilling due to start later this year.

Kraken is located about 125km (77 miles) east of the Shetland Islands.

The field, which will consist of 25 wells, is estimated to contain 137 million barrels of oil.

Gross peak oil production is expected to be more than 50,000 barrels per day, with first oil production planned for 2016/2017.

EnQuest has a majority interest in Kraken. Its partners in the development are Cairn Energy and First Oil.

In an interim management statement, the company reported that the Argyll field was on track to restart production for the first time in over 20 years, in the second half of 2014.

A new discovery was also announced, with successful drilling of a well on the Avalon project in the North Sea.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-27449369