Oil & Gas UK Economic Report 2014

Consequently, an Oil and Gas Technology Strategy was developed under PILOT, which recommended the formation of a Technology Leadership Board, which has now been established, to oversee the delivery of improved technologies and to drive the effectiveness of the supply chain (see Figure 32). The average recovery factor from oil fields on the UKCS is forecast to be about 46 per cent at cessation of production, even after using IOR methods. The aim is to increase this percentage to above 50, thus extending field lives and recovering more oil. EOR techniques are a means of achieving this (see Appendix b for an explanation of the difference between IOR and EOR). Enhanced Oil Recovery

There are only two EOR schemes currently in operation on the UKCS, although additional projects are now either under way, such as the world’s first offshore low salinity scheme (see Section 6), or are at pre-sanction stages of evaluation. PILOT’s EOR Work Group was established in early 2012 to assess the potential of expanding the number of EOR schemes. A number of workshops have been held involving various industry participants from operators and contractors, particularly sub-surface specialists. The work group has concentrated its activities on three techniques, identified by their potential: • Low salinity water-flooding • Chemical EOR (polymer and surfactant) • Miscible gas (hydrocarbon and CO 2 ) injection

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2

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Figure 32: Oil and Gas Technology Themes

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Oil and Gas Technology Leadership Board

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Field Development

Exploration

Mature Field

Decommissioning

Seismic imaging and evaluation

Small field development/ subsea

Well plugging and abandonment

Enhanced oil recovery Improved oil recovery Production efficiency - integrity and reliability

Source: PILOT

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ECONOMIC REPORT 2014