West of Shetland8 Aug 2019 23:59
https://www.petroleum-economist.com/articles/upstream/exploration-production/2019/west-of-shetland-takes-centre-stage
Exploration in the region may lead to the partial revival of the UK Continental Shelf
Oil firms are increasingly putting the West of Shetland (WoS) at the centre of their recovery plans for the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), marking a major shift from the peripheral role the remote region has played for decades.
There have been only sporadic finds in the Scottish hydrocarbons province since the late 1970s. But momentum has accelerated in recent years, as new seismic and drilling technologies have enabled operators to overcome complex geology, deep field locations and UK environmental legislation protecting potentially sensitive habitats.
A series of discoveries and successful project launches since 2017 has spiked further exploration. This was underscored by the award of 20 WoS licenses in the UK's 31st offshore licensing round in June, and more than 50 in the previous round in 2018, to both majors and independent entrants.
The buzz around WoS contrasts starkly with declines elsewhere on the UKCS
BP—which initially developed the Foinaven, Schiehallion and Clair fields in the 1990s—ramped up its activity in 2017. It invested £3.4bn ($4.4bn) in Schiehallion, which started production last November.
In 2017 it also stated construction on Clair Ridge, a huge, £4.5bn expansion of the Clair field. It came on stream last November and the first two production wells are already producing 36,000bl/d. BP estimates there is 640mn bl of oil in recoverable resources, meaning the volume recoverable using current exploration and production technology, and is targeting peak oil production of 120,000bl/d.
Hurricane Energy also announced in 2017 that its Greater Lancaster Area may contain 1bn bl of recoverable oil; E&P activity led to it securing first oil from the fractured basement field earlier this year.
Cnooc Petroleum Europe, a subsidiary of Chinese state-controlled Cnooc, confirmed plans to spud wells in the region this summer at its West of Shetland fields, Cragganmore and Howick.
But the largest UK discovery in a decade came in late 2018—Total's discovery of a mammoth 1tn ft3 in its Glendronach gas field. Located in the Greater Laggan Area, it can be developed quickly with the existing infrastructure around the Edradour field and the Laggan-Tormore facilities of the Shetland Gas Plant. The field could contribute as much as 10pc of the UK's annual gas production in its early years, according to an appraisal last October by the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
Frontier no more
Ariel Flores, BP North Sea regional president, told Petroleum Economist that technological breakthroughs have been critical to the area's recent successes, and that this will continue to be the case.
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