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Inside UK oil and gas

Hydrocarbon Engineering,


A new report from EnergyBoardroom is an investigation of the efforts currently being undertaken to minimise the risk for projects both in operations and financing, in order to build a sustainable future for the country’s oil and gas sector and to add value to projects that are now entering the mature phase of their lifecycle.

Scotland

The report says that in spite of the upcoming Scottish independence referendum, both the Scottish and UK governments are united in placing emphasis upon the necessity for regulatory stability to boost the UK oil and gas sector, which has recently been suffering from escalating costs. Both governments have said that they are aware of the responsibility that is required in order to make sure that the UK continental shelf (UKCS) continues to build value beyond output volume and the role that collaboration amongst key industry stakeholders will play in this.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister is quoted as saying in the report, ‘oil and gas wealth is extremely valuable. With investment at current levels it is clear that operators have continued confidence in the future.’

Taxes and bugets

PwC has said that the total tax contribution of the oil and gas sector to the UK was over US$ 46 billion in 2011, accounting for 5.5% of total UK tax revenues. This underlines the industry’s importance to the country. The figure however does not include taxes paid by companies in the supply chain. EnergyBoardroom believe that finding a way to maximise the value of this sector, and ensure its long term sustainability is the key for whoever holds the rights to the North Sea’s hydrocarbon interests. Michael Fallon, UK Minister for Energy commented on this saying, ‘making the most of Britain’s home grown energy is crucial to retain job and business opportunities and the government is committed to help maximise recovery of North Sea oil and gas.

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury said, ‘reviewing the overall fiscal regime for the North Sea is something the industry has been asking the government to do for a long time. This is a big opportunity to put in place a fiscal regime that allows every last drop of oil and gas to be obtained from the North Sea.’

Technology

In the report Malcolm Webb, CEO, Oil & Gas UK is quoted as saying, ‘many fields on the UKCS are still being commissioned with more oil left in situ than that which has been extracted, recovery factors can be under 50%, the industry should aspire to increase this figure through the application of further technology.’

Fergus Ewing, Scottish Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, in the report, emphasises the value of technology in creating a sustainable future for the oil and gas industry in the UK. ‘The UKCS can become a test bed for perfecting operations and technologies that can be realised all over the world, whether in offshore Mexico, West Africa, the basins south of China or to the west of Australia.’


Adapted from press release by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/14082014/uk-oil-gas-insight-energy-boardroom/

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