Oil & Gas UK Activity Survey 2016

41 / 60

page 41
Figure 30: Average Production by Year per Field, with the Distribution of 2015 Fields
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Average Daily Production per Field (thousand boepd)
Source: Oil & Gas UK, Wood Mackenzie
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
<5,000 5,000 - 10,000 10,000 -
20,000
20,000 -
30,000
30,000 -
40,000
40,000 -
50,000
>50,000
Number of Fields
Daily Production (boepd)
1,600
46,000 32,000
23,000
14,000 7,000
91,000
Average Daily Production 2015
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 field15 and the performance of the Cygnus field16 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
16
1
2
3
4
5
6