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 Operations Index
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Exploration & Appraisal Activity
Survey
This section covers the
overall activity surveys and specific points for operations on the
UKCS, including relevant guidelines.
Each year, Oil
and Gas UK
surveys exploration & appraisal activity on the UK continental
shelf (UKCS) jointly with BERR (formerly DTI). This provides both a
summary of the past year’s activities and a forecast of potential
exploration and appraisal activity over the next three years. This
is done in conjunction with a full UKCS basin activity survey.
What are the data used for
and who has access to it?
The data are used for
forecasting future demand in exploration and appraisal activity and
identifying any areas of concern which can be investigated to
improve processes and ensure this activity is optimised.
The data are publicly available (in collated and analysed
form) through published reports and presentations.
The exploration and appraisal elements are included in the
Oil & Gas UK annual activity survey.
Key messages from 2007 activity survey (main
and E&A)
Production
- There
was a 5% decline in production in 2007 primarily due to delays
in project start-up
Expenditure & Investment
- Whilst
the increasing oil price is promoting activity in the UKCS, this
is accompanied by cost inflation, estimated at 15-20% in 2007.
- The
investment outlook is expected to be sustained until 2010
- Total
costs (of finding, development and operations) reached $35/boe
making the UKCS one of the most expensive oil provinces in the
world
Potential
- UKCS
still has substantial potential with significant reserves
yet-to-find (15-25 billion boe).
Decommissioning
- Around 45% of
infrastructure could be decommissioned by 2020 unless current
activity is sustained. By
maintaining investor confidence, decommissioning could be
delayed by 10-15 years.
Prospects
- The majority of prospects
lie in the Central North Sea,
however, there are potentially large volumes to be discovered in
Atlantic Margin region
- Around half of discovered
prospects in 2007 have
risked mean volumes of <20mmboe
Drilling
activity
·
Exploration & Appraisal
drilling activity last year was maintained at a high level in 2007
(32 Exploration wells spudded with 2 sidetracks and 36 appraisal
wells spudded with 41 sidetracks) and this level of activity is
projected to continue in 2008/2009.
·
The exploration
success rate was around 40% in 2007 and 13 discoveries were reported
to Oil & Gas UK finding volumes of between 380 and 420mmboe
- Little
activity is occurring in Atlantic Margin (where both the rewards
and risks are higher), but this is due to increase in 2008 when
frontier licence commitments take effect
- Activity
in the Southern Gas Basin has increased by 20% since 2006
-
Appraisal wells will mostly be confined to
Central North Sea
until 2008
Constraints
-
Rig rates continue to increase and the cost/ limited mobile rig
availability will continue to constrain activity
-
Seismic processing capacity/ vessel availability also apply
constraints to Exploration and Appraisal activity
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Licensing, Exploration and Appraisal Main Page |
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