UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) released its Production efficiency (PE) for 2017. OGA reports the PE continued its rise for the fifth year in a row. Namely, in 2017 it reached 74%, increasing production in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).
The report used data from the 2017 UKCS Stewardship Survey. In 2017, Production efficiency (PE) reached 74%, increasing by 1% from 2016. The 1% improvement in efficiency from 2016 contributed to an additional 12 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in 2017; or 32,000 extra boe per day.
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Specifically, total UKCS production potential in 2017 was 800 million boe, a slight increase from 2016. This is due to a number of new fields coming on line, counteracting natural decline in maturing fields. To increase PE, a wide range of methods are being used, such as new technology and shifts towards efficiency cultures.
Moreover, three out of five regions in the UKCS improved their production efficiency in 2017, compared to the previous year. In fact, the Southern North Sea (SNS) increased by 7% since last year recovering from a drop in 2016. The WoS saw the second largest improvement continuing the trend seen since 2015. The CNS region has also shown steady improvement over the past 3 years.
In the contrary, the Northern North Sea (NNS) fell by 2% and the East Irish Sea (EIS) fell significantly from an already low base. Meanwhile, losses to production in 2017 were reduced to 200 million boe, from 210 million boe the previous year.
Lastly, the EIS can improve the efficiency of the overall UKCS with export losses driving inefficiency. Reducing export losses to levels seen in other regions would have a significant effect on the production efficiency of the UKCS.
See more information in the PDF herebelow