AN Israeli-owned oil and gas firm is set to provide a £400 million vote of confidence in the North Sea under a plan to squeeze an extra 40 million barrels out of a venerable oil field. Ithaca Energy has said it will go ahead with a project to boost output from the Captain field 90 miles north-east of Aberdeen after winning approval for its plans from the Oil and Gas Authority. The company will implement stage two of an Enhanced Oil Recovery scheme using technology it says has been shown to be effective. Chief executive Bill Dunnett said consent for the stage two work progresses the application of a technology that has already demonstrated an improved recovery rate and will help extend the life of Captain. The billion barrel field has been onstream since 1997. Production is running at around 27,000 barrels of oil daily.