WIRELINE ISSUE 27 SPRING 2014

Workstreams within PILOT, the government-industry forum, are focusing on exploration, production efficiency, enhanced oil recovery and improved area stewardship. The aim is to secure the long-term health of the UK offshore oil and gas sector

Mission control – PILOT forum drives forward Oneof themost activeoffshoreoperating regions in theworld, theUKContinental Shelf encompassesmature regions that havebeenextensivelydeveloped aswell as frontier plays. Achievingoptimal recovery from thesewidelydiverse areas is demanding. PILOT, the government-industry forum, isworkingon anumberof initiatives tohelp secure thenext phaseof development. Wireline reports O ver thepast45years,42billion barrelsofoil equivalent (boe) havebeen recovered from the tremendously strongdevelopment from a smallnumberof large,highlyrobust projects,plusagreaternumberof smaller fields.On theotherhand,exploration activityhas fallen sharply inrecentyearswith just15wellsdrilled in2013comparedwith “With renewed commitment from industry and government, the ProductionEfficiency Task Force is focused ondriving improvements in overall performance.” UKContinental Shelf (UKCS).But there arechallenges ahead for thismaturebasinas wenowhavea ‘two speedNorthSea’. Ononehand, investmentwas at a record high lastyearat£14.4billion,with 44 in2008 (seep22 for the latest figures fromOil&GasUK’s ActivitySurvey2014 ).

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THE MAGAZ I NE FOR THE UK OF F SHOR E O I L AND GA S I NDUS TRY