Sevan Marine has signed a letter of intent with the Huntington oil field owners for the use of the Sevan Voyageur floating production storage and offloading vessel.

Under the agreement, the vessel will be used to produce 30,000 barrels of oil a day from three or four production wells for the Huntington field in block 22/14 of the UK continental shelf.

The Norwegian marine firm said the negotiations will run until 30 June 2010 before finally signing a five-year agreement estimated around $535m with extension options for the Huntington partners.

Owners expect the first oil production to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Huntington partners include E.ON Ruhrgas UK E&P, Premier Oil ONS, Norwegian Energy Company and Carrizo Oil & Gas.