Economic Report 2013 - page 16

ECONOMIC REPORT 2013 16
However, there are still a significant number
of discoveries which have taken a long
time to be developed, either because of
limitations in prevailing technologies, a lack
of local infrastructure or marginal economics.
Clair and Mariner are examples of fields that
were first discovered in the late 1970s and
early 1980s, but were not developed until
more than two decades later, after new
technologies became available.
The dynamics of the UKCS in the early days of
production were very different from today.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a small
number of very large fields dominated UKCS
production, whereas today’s production comes
from a much larger number of fields, most of
which are considerably smaller in size.
Figure 5 demonstrates this effect for oil since
production began in 1975. This is not unusual
for a maturing oil and gas province. The biggest
and easiest reservoirs are found anddeveloped
first, with later and smaller discoveries often
being tied back to existing infrastructure.
While this is often an enabling factor because
it makes the new field economic, it means that
tie-backs are dependent on the performance
of an older, host installation, thereby adding a
degree of complexity to the operation.
Targeted policies drive the pace of development
Much of the newer resources are to be found
in high pressure high temperature (HPHT),
heavy oil, and deep water fields. However,
many of the technologies required to recover
these resources are still under development.
If technology continues to advance at the
rate experienced over the last 40 years and
if commodity prices remain high, the share of
production from such demanding reservoirs is
expected to increase in future.
Figure 4: Cumulative Resources Discovered and Produced
Figure 5: Oil Production by UKCS Field
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
196519671969197119731975197719791981198319851987198919911993199519971999200120032005200720092011
Billion boe
Resources Discovered
Production
Source:WoodMackenzie
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1,000
1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011
Annual Oil Production (Million boe
)
Source: DECC
Source: Wood Macke ie
Source: DECC