Media Information 2nd November 2006 - for immediate use

Construction of New North Sea Oil Pipeline

Venture Production plc ('Venture', 'the Company'), the Aberdeen based UK independent oil and gas production company, today announces its intention to build and operate a new 33 km pipeline that will export oil produced from the Greater Kittiwake Area ('GKA'). At present there are four fields exporting oil via tanker from the Venture-operated Kittiwake platform and the new 10 inch pipeline will provide a fixed link between this platform and the existing Forties Pipeline System ('FPS').

Gross production from GKA has risen from around 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day ('boepd') in November 2003, when Venture became field and platform operator, to over 30,000 boepd today. The decision to invest in this new piece of North Sea infrastructure reflects the Company's confidence that the GKA fields will continue to produce economic volumes for at least another decade. These volumes include current production from the existing Kittiwake, Mallard, Gadwall and Goosander fields as well as potential production from the as yet undeveloped Christian, Grouse, Durward and Dauntless discoveries, all of which are operated by Venture. In addition, the new pipeline will have sufficient throughput capacity to make it a viable export route for any new discoveries in the surrounding area. Any such discoveries could well be to be too small to justify their own dedicated export infrastructure.

The current GKA oil export system consists of a dedicated storage and shuttle tanker that periodically ships the produced crude to its point of sale. When this tanker reaches the end of its permitted life in 2007 the new pipeline will be ready to provide for continuous export from the GKA fields. This will increase operational uptime by removing the need to periodically shut down production across the Kittiwake platform whilst the tanker either unloads or is off-station during adverse weather. The pipeline will, therefore, materially increase average daily GKA production whilst at the same time lowering overall operating costs. These two improvements will maximise recoverable reserves and thereby extend the economic field life of the GKA assets.

The pipeline will be owned by a new joint venture company that has been established by Venture and an affiliate of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund III, a fund managed by Arclight Capital, one of the investors in the recently established North Sea Gas Partners joint venture. This new pipeline-owning company will make use of a term debt facility arranged by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group and it has entered into agreements with Venture and its GKA partner, Dana Petroleum plc, with regard to export tariffs for GKA production. The pipeline company will also benefit from third party tariff revenue from any nearby discoveries that may be developed across the new infrastructure. Alongside the finance providers, Venture will have a significant minority ownership position in the pipeline company. The new arrangements remain subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.

Venture is planning to lay the pipeline from the Kittiwake platform to the BP-owned Forties Unity platform where it will be tied in to the FPS which will then transport the oil to market. The Company estimates the total construction cost of the pipeline to be between £65 million and £70 million with an expected start-up date in late 2007.

Dave Blackwood, Head of BP's North Sea Business said

"BP is pleased to be involved in this important project and we look forward to welcoming another new customer to the Forties Pipeline System. In recent years, we have developed increasingly competitive offers for access to the Forties Pipeline System, to support the development of smaller fields and new entrants to the North Sea as well as existing customers. This project will be an important addition to a vital element of North Sea infrastructure, and make available a reliable export route for a new set of potential customers."

Commenting on the news, Mike Wagstaff, Chief Executive said:

"Our success in increasing current and future production across the Kittiwake platform has driven our decision to build this new piece of North Sea infrastructure. Since we acquired our interest and operatorship in November 2003 we have taken gross GKA production from around 5,000 boepd to over 30,000 boepd today. We have also significantly increased remaining proven and probable GKA reserves through both tying back existing but unexploited discoveries and drilling a number of in-fill wells into existing fields. Over the next twelve months we expect further production gains from new water injector wells drilled on both Gadwall and Mallard. The new pipeline is also a potential source of additional revenue for us should it provide an export route to make undeveloped discoveries surrounding the GKA area viable as producing fields."

"Our ability to put together a large, complex project such as this is testament to the co-operation of all the parties involved, including BP, the Forties Pipeline System operator, and all of the contractors involved in the project. In addition, building the new pipeline secures the economic life of the GKA production hub to well beyond 2015 and is further evidence of Venture's North Sea focused business model being able to deliver added value long-term."

Enquiries

Venture Contacts
Mike Wagstaff, Chief Executive, 01224 619000
Jon Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, 01224 619000
Marie-Louise Clayton, Finance Director, 01224 619000
Rod Begbie, Corporate Development Manager, 01224 619000

Brunswick Contacts
Patrick Handley, 020 7404 5959
Chris Blundell, 020 7404 5959

Scottish Press
John MacDonald, Weber Shandwick 01224 806600

Notes to Editors

Greater Kittiwake Area ('GKA') Map

Venture Production's licensed blocks are highlighted in yellow.

Greater Kittiwake Area ('GKA') Fields

Note : * indicates Venture is currently the field operator.

Background

Venture completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in the Greater Kittiwake Area from Shell and Exxon Mobil in November 2003. Venture became operator with Dana Petroleum plc ('Dana') purchasing the remaining 50% of the field interests. Since then Venture and Dana have invested £170 million in redeveloping the existing Kittiwake and Mallard fields and bringing new discoveries onstream.

Currently, oil produced from the GKA fields is exported to the point of sale via the Kitty Knutsen storage and shuttle tanker. This vessel is scheduled for decommissioning in 2007 and it will be replaced by the new pipeline linked in to the Forties Pipeline System.

The Pipeline

The GKA Pipeline will be a 33 km long, 10 inch oil pipeline from the Kittiwake platform to the Forties Pipeline System with the connection point at BP's Unity platform. In addition to providing an export route for the existing and future GKA Fields the pipeline will be constructed such that third parties can tie-in directly at a number of subsea locations or access via the Kittiwake topsides facilities.

The Pipeline Partners

The principal other parties involved in the project are:

• BP : operator of the Forties Pipeline System and managing the tie-in to the Forties Unity platform
• Venture Production : managing the 10 inch pipelay and Kittiwake facilities upgrades
• Subsea 7 : sub-sea construction and the 10 inch pipelay
• Petrofac : Kittiwake platform topsides engineering
• Wood Group : Unity platform topsides engineering and construction

Timetable

Final Front End Engineering and Design ('FEED') studies are underway and the pipelay to Unity and tie-in to Forties Pipeline System is scheduled for Q2 2007.

First production to be exported over the new GKA Pipeline is expected in late 2007.

Pipeline Ownership

The new pipeline will be built and owned by a separate entity in which Venture will be a shareholder. External equity and debt finance has been raised from ArcLight Energy Partners Fund III and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group respectively to fund the construction of the GKA pipeline. The pipeline manager and operator will be Venture Production (North Sea Developments) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Venture Production plc.

ArcLight Capital Partners

ArcLight Energy Partners Fund III is a US$2.1bn private equity fund managed by ArcLight Capital Partners. ArcLight Capital Partners is a leading energy investment firm with more than US$4.6 billion under management. ArcLight invests across the energy industry value chain in tangible assets that produce high current income and capital appreciation. Founded in 2001, ArcLight has its headquarters in Boston and an office in New York City. ArcLight has 21 investment professionals and is led by its founders Daniel R. Revers and Robb E. Turner. ArcLight's investment team has extensive energy investing experience, industry relationships, and asset level knowledge.

Venture Production plc

• Aberdeen based, UK independent oil and gas producer, focused on the North Sea.
• Listed on the London Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of c. £1 billion.
• Production guidance for 2006 of 41,500 to 43,500 boepd (net to Venture).
• Currently operating gross production in excess of 70,000 boepd from 12 fields.
• Proved and Probable Reserves of 161 million barrels of oil equivalent ('MMboe') at 31 December 2005.
• Recent acquisition of CH4 Energy Limited added a further 31 MMboe at 30 June 2006.

On 19 September 2006 Venture announced its 2006 Interim Results

• Turnover up 230% to £185.4m (2005 : £56.1m).
• Profit after tax £55.9m (2005 : £2.8m loss).
• Operating cash flow £155m (2005 : £3.9m).
• Average production up 80% to 43,572 boepd (2005 : 24,255 boepd).

Venture's 2006 Interim Report and Accounts may be downloaded from www.vpc.co.uk.