THE chief executive of North Sea focused Faroe Petroleum, Graham Stewart, has highlighted the potential for the firm to increase production significantly as it started drilling a well off Norway.

Aberdeen-based Faroe has begun work to appraise the Fogelberg find which it reckons could contain up to 116 million barrels oil equivalent.

The company will use the results of the well to help it decide whether to sanction the hefty investment required to bring the field into production.

Mr Stewart said: “Fogelberg … has the potential to join a number of development and pre-development projects which are on track to significantly grow Faroe’s production, cash flow and value.”

The company is redeveloping the Njord cluster and working to bring the Oda field onstream off Norway. It has applied for clearance to develop the Fenja field.

Faroe has focused exploration activity on Norway, which offers generous tax breaks. The company has interests in producing fields in the UK. Mr Stewart has underlined Faroe’s interest in buying UK producing assets, to help make the most of tax losses.

Separately, North Sea veteran Bruce Dingwall said the Trinity Exploration and Production business he runs in Trinidad & Tobago grew production to 2,777 barrels oil daily in the last quarter, from 2,506 bod in the preceding three months.

Trinity, which runs its corporate development function from Edinburgh, said it achieved success with a low cost programme to boost output from existing fields .

The firm said it has been achieving a strong financial performance in an environment of improving oil prices. It completed a refinancing in the first half of last year.

Mr Dingwall played a key role in the development of Aberdeen-based Venture Production, which Centrica bought for £1.3 billion in 2009.