ACTIVITY SURVEY 2014
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2
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Reserves (Billion boe)
Sanctioned
Probable
Possible
Source: Oil & Gas UK
Maximising Recovery
Over the last decade, the total reported recoverable reserves, considering the full range of probabilities, has
consistently remained at around 11 billion boe, with 2014 being no exception at 10.7 billion boe. However, only
60 per cent of these reserves in 2014 are sanctioned, compared with 80 per cent in 2006. This trend, with a much
smaller sanctioned base, means that investment in UKCS developments is increasingly exposed to cost, production
and price risks.
Figure 3: The Evolving Reserve Base of the UK Continental Shelf
Maximising recovery from the UKCS requires the industry to take a three-pronged approach, as follows:
i.
Continue to increase recovery from existing fields, using increased and enhanced oil and gas
recovery techniques
ii.
Find new means to commercialise existing discoveries which are as yet undeveloped typically for
technical or cost reasons
iii.
Increase exploration to replace the barrels that have been produced
With the difficulties in maturing new discoveries, it is all the more important to increase the recovery rate of
existing fields, which is typically running at around 46 per cent on oil fields across the UKCS. Current estimates
are that EOR technologies have the potential to add up to six billion barrels, taking a best case scenario. However,
even with more conservative assumptions, effective implementation of EOR could readily add an additional 0.5 to
1 billion boe to recoverable reserves in the near term.
