UK Continental Shelf

Despite the global downturn, the long-term transition to net zero presents a major opportunity to create new multibillion industries based around the North Sea. Cross-sector collaboration and major state/private sector intervention, together with strong leadership, will be key.

The Hydrogen Offshore Production project identifies an alternative to decommissioning by providing reuse options for offshore infrastructure. It aims to prove the feasibility of decentralized hydrogen generation, storage, and distribution to provide a bulk hydrogen solution.

One of the largest industrial projects in the UK in recent years, Mariner marks Equinor’s first operated field on the UK Continental Shelf. It is expected to produce 70,000 BOPD at peak rates.

The strategy supports the Maximise Economic Recovery from UK Oil & Gas Strategy and Vision 2035, whose goal is to achieve £140 billion additional gross revenue from UKCS production by that time.

The $635-million deal sees Oman-based Petrogas and Norwegian private equity company HitecVision acquire a package of non-core North Sea assets, including 100% ownership stake in four fields.

One of the largest pre-sanction fields on the UK Continental Shelf, Rosebank, could significantly bolster the company’s UK portfolio. However, the field’s water depth and harsh environment may run development costs into the multibillion-dollar range.

The round marked a continuation of a recent trend on the UKCS in which lesser-known firms and newcomers have gained stature, replacing more-familiar, bigger operators that have pared down their North Sea positions.

Some 3,000 people and counting intrigued by UK oil and gas data have signed up for access to the country’s new National Data Repository. What motivated the OGA to make the data available to the public, and what can the public do with the data?

Data from the UK Oil and Gas Authority’s new data repository cover 12,500 offshore wellbores, 5,000 seismic surveys, and 3,000 pipelines.

An influx of new investment and operational efficiencies borne out of the oil price downturn have led to a drop in projected decommissioning costs. Decommissioning multiple wells in one campaign helped some operators achieve time savings of 33% per well.