What are the major E&P challenges in the North Sea?
UKCS Optimising recovery from existing fields
A major challenge for operators in the UKCS, and one that their NCS counterparts are also facing. All operators want to optimize recovery from their existing fields but the real questions is how to do this? What strategy and technology should be used? Whether you opt for air injection eor, chemical eor or are more ambitious (think Statoil’s subsea gas compression project in the Aasgard field) .. there is still great debate around the best method of optimizing oil and gas recovery
UKCS Investment
A trend that is currently affecting small and mid cap companies across the whole of the UKCS and west of Shetland is access to capital. Tight capital markets and uncertain economic conditions are making it difficult for companies to secure investment, therefore hindering the development of their operations.
UKCS and West of Shetland Infrastructure
Infrastructure poses a challenge to most operators in the UKCS – from infrastructure owning IOCs to small caps, all are faced with unique infrastructure challenges. Maintaining infrastructure and ensuring it is safe and reliable is a major effort, particularly when wanting to keep costs down. While small caps need to gain access to existing infrastructure to bring their reserves to production.
Due to the lack of infrastructure in the West of Shetland region only infrastructure owners and major players are truly able to bring their reserves to production, this is perhaps most evident in BP’s phased development of the Clair field. BP have invested billions in this development and Trevor Garlick, Regional President for BP’s North Sea business said: “The Clair field is an established, high quality asset with a strong future and with our co-venturers we are taking significant steps to maximise its potential.” More on this can be seen here
The lack of infrastructure hinders the development of reserves held my small and mid cap companies, without access to infrastructure they are unable to commercialise their reserves.
NCS Uncertain exploration success
Of course any exploration activity is full of uncertainty, and only in recent years with the development of new exploration models are operators able to gain a fuller understanding of what lies beneath the NCS. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate claims almost a quarter of reserves are left unfound but a major exploration effort will need to be undertaken to discover these reserves, more information available here.
NCS Subsea maintenance challenges
Statoil’s subsea pipelines criss-cross the Norwegian Continental Shelf for many thousands of miles. Therefore, the organisation needs a robust maintenance regime in place to deal with every eventuality. Åse Margrethe Odland, VP of Statoil’s Transportnet division, explains how she keeps the system flowing. Reported Offshoretechnology.com
Åse Margrethe Odland: “Repairing subsea pipelines might be challenging, but Statoil has built up an extensive contingency preparedness for such pipelines. Different methods are developed depending on water depths and pipeline dimension. For repairs beyond diving depth, remote-operated equipment is used.”
More information can be found here
UKCS and NCS Optimising recovery from existing fields
A major challenge for operators in the UKCS, and one that their NCS counterparts are also facing. All operators want to optimize recovery from their existing fields but the real questions is how to do this? What strategy and technology should be used? Whether you opt for air injection eor, chemical eor or are more ambitious (think Statoil’s subsea gas compression project in the Aasgard field) .. there is still great debate around the best method of optimizing oil and gas recovery
West of Shetland Environment and Technology
Deeper water and extreme weather conditions significantly increase the amount of risk associated with offshore operations and this is no different for operations west of Shetland, many operations here are high risk – high reward. This extreme environment means operators face greater technical challenges than anywhere else offshore UK.
To find out more about this and more please see the Oil & Gas Outlook North Sea conference at: www.terrapinn.com/northsea
