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3.7 Billion Barrel Prize Revealed for North Sea Fields
| Date: | 03 Dec 2001 | | Details: | A new report has confirmed that the UK's producing oil and gas fields could be holding a further 3.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in unexploited reserves, and that sharing best practice in mature field management will be the key to unlocking the prize.
Commissioned by PILOT and co-ordinated by LOGIC, the industry-funded body focused on oil & gas industry competitiveness, the AUPEC study, entitled 'Brownfield Benchmarking Project', reveals that the UK's 200 producing offshore oil and gas fields could yield up to 3.7 billion boe more than the 6.3 billion boe reserves currently known to be economically and technically viable.
This gives the UK's producing (or "brown") fields a total ultimate recovery potential of 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) which, in comparison with the 3 billion boe estimated to lie in new undeveloped fields, underlines the significance of the industry's current initiatives to maximise recovery of oil and gas reserves from existing fields.
Energy Minister Brian Wilson said: "This significant study is very good news for the future of the UKCS. 3.7 billion boe is enough oil to run a medium-sized power station for over 100 years and I encourage the industry to exploit these valuable brownfield opportunities."
Scott Urban, Pilot Member and BP Group Vice-President, said: "This is excellent news for the Industry. Building UK competitiveness through PILOT initiatives like LOGIC and the Brownfields Project will help ensure the 3.7 billion barrel prize is realised."
"Openness, free exchange of ideas and knowledge-sharing will be powerful tools in improving performance and adding value for all involved. By laying a foundation on co-operation there is scope for the UK to be a centre of excellence in managing mature fields, which in turn will offer considerable export potential for UK companies."
AUPEC project director, David Rose, agreed that the key to realising this prize was innovation, co-operation and on-going benchmarking: "The recovery of this oil is possible, but it very much depends on new ways of thinking. It will require improved technology, and new commercial approaches.
"The idea behind the Benchmarking and Best Practice Study is to share insights on best practices for the benefit of the whole industry. Continuous benchmarking will allow us to create a detailed knowledge base and, hopefully, significantly extend the life of the North-sea oil industry."
LOGIC has recently been asked by the PILOT Brownfield group to lead the work into the next phase. A series of three workshops are scheduled for the coming months to encourage collaboration across the industry on developing new technologies and sharing advanced mature field management practices so that the UK's brownfield potential may be fully delivered. | | Contact: | Trisha O'Reilly, PILOT Communications
Tel: 020 7802 2422
Email: toreilly@ukooa.co.uk |
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For all press enquiries please contact:
Trisha O'Reilly at UKOOA Tel: 0207 802 2422 Email: toreilly@ukooa.co.uk
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