Tuesday 18 November 2014

Industry and Government Take Action to Stimulate Exploration on the UK Continental Shelf

At the PETEX 2014 conference in London today (November 18) Oil & Gas UK announced the kick- off of two projects aimed at stimulating exploration on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and appealed  for further industry participation in the 21st Century Exploration Road Map –a digital perspective of  the UKCS petroleum geology.

In a keynote speech at the PETEX exploration and production conference in London, Oonagh Werngren MBE, Oil & Gas UK’s operations director, said: “Two projects have evolved from a scoping study for the 21st Century Exploration Road Map that made recommendations for both the geological and geographical scope and urgent priorities going forward. The first project comprises an industry-wide review, led and funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), of exploration wells drilled in the Central North Sea 2003-2013, an area deemed to hold the largest remaining potential on the UKCS. The second is a study, developed by the British Geological Survey, of the Palaeozoic potential of the UKCS that will draw on data from operators and contractors.

“The findings from these two pan-industry projects will feed into the 21st Century Exploration Road Map Project which aims to improve exploration success through developing a systematic analysis of the key exploration plays of the North and address the 50 per cent decrease in the number of wells drilled. We are looking to all companies working on the UKCS to actively participate in these projects through sponsorship and by providing staff time or geological or geophysical interpretations.

“The 21st Century Exploration Road Map is one of several  projects being driven by the PILOT Exploration Task Force, which works together with DECC to revitalise exploration and maximise the economic recovery of oil and gas resources from the UKCS. It aligns with the recommendations put forward by the recent Wood Report, which identifies the urgent need to evaluate new and unexplored resources and create an up-to-date perspective of the petroleum geology of the UKCS together with tools to ensure more effective sharing of data across the industry.”

“There is an urgent need to increase the success rate of exploration in the UKCS where well costs, as well as operational costs, continue to rise. This week, all license operators in the North Sea will receive a letter from DECC and Oil & Gas UK about these projects and I encourage the industry to commit its energies to supporting this important work to maximise economic recovery of the UKCS.”

 Ends.

For more information, please contact Lucy Gordon at lgordon@oilandgasuk.co.uk or 01224 577331.

 Notes to Editors

1.            Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas   industry. Its growing membership, which comprises oil and gas producers and contractor        companies, now numbers more than 500.

2.            The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) works to make sure the UK has secure, clean, affordable energy supplies and promote international action to mitigate     climate change.

3.            PILOT, the joint government-industry forum, was formed in 2000 to take forward a         strategy for maximising economic recovery of the UK's hydrocarbon resource and securing         a sustainable, long-term future for the UKCS. Its creation was one of the recommendations          from a report published in 1999 by a government-industry Oil and Gas Industry Task Force,       which was set up the previous year to address the impact of the low oil price at that time.

4.            British Geological Survey (BGS) is a world-leading geoscience centre for survey and         monitoring; modelling and research; data and knowledge. More information available at    https://www.bgs.ac.uk/‎