Oil & Gas UK Activity Survey 2016

Figure 30: Average Production by Year per Field, with the Distribution of 2015 Fields

1

180

1,600

160

Average Daily Production 2015

2

140

80

120

100

70

80

3

60 Number of Fields

60

40

7,000

14,000

50

20

23,000

46,000

32,000

91,000

0

4

<5,000 5,000 - 10,000 10,000 - 20,000

20,000 - 30,000

30,000 - 40,000

40,000 - 50,000

>50,000

40

Daily Production (boepd)

30

5

20

10

Average Daily Production per Field (thousand boepd)

6

0

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Source: Oil & Gas UK, Wood Mackenzie

Production by Region In 2015, the CNS accounted for 60 per cent of the total UKCS production. It is expected to remain the most productive area over the next five years, but is forecast to reduce its share of UKCS output to around 45 per cent by 2020. Meanwhile, thewest of Shetland regionwill become increasingly important, with its proportion of UKCS production rising from just 2.8 per cent in 2015 to around 20 per cent by 2020. This is the result of significant field start-ups, such as Claire Ridge, Schiehallion, the Laggan-Tormore area and Solan. The NNS region is forecast to hold up well through to 2020, with the decline in base production offset by significant new field start-ups, including Mariner, Kraken and Western Isles. Production from the SNS will continue to decline over time and it is estimated that over half of the fields in this region are due to cease production by 2020. As in other areas of the UKCS, there is potential for output to be boosted by new field start-ups. Securing development of the Tolmount field 15 and the performance of the Cygnus field 16 will be crucial beyond 2020. These two fields alone could be producing over one-third of SNS volumes by the early part of the next decade. Production from the UKCS is highly reliant on a network of ageing, complex and interdependent infrastructure. Careful management of this infrastructure is crucial as removal, which for some fields is now a real threat, would have a severe impact on production, causing volumes to be permanently lost. Innovative solutions must be found to overcome access to infrastructure issues to ensure fields are not prematurely decommissioned.

15 http://bit.ly/EONtolmountdiscovery 16 www.engie-ep.co.uk/our-operations/cygnus.aspx

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