Centrica says Rough gas site to pump more than planned in 2018

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) -

* Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) on Monday said its Rough gas storage site will produce 9-11 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) this year, slightly above expectations

* Rough, which provides around 70 percent of Britain's gas storage capacity, was closed last year after it became too costly to maintain the 30-year-old site

* As a result, Centrica reclassified Rough as a producing asset in order to sell off the remaining supplies held in store

* In a trading update, Centrica said subsidiary Spirit Energy was expected to produce in the lower half of a 50-55 mboe targeted range this year, less than expected

* "Spirit Energy production has been slightly below expectations in the year to date, predominantly reflecting some unplanned outages at Morecambe and lower volumes from certain non-operated Norwegian fields," Centrica said (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic; editing by Jason Neely)