Friday, July 1, 2011

Update on North Sea Oil Production


The North Sea has been the poster child for the idea that with modern oil extraction technology, an oil producing region can decline really rapidly after it has peaked (the core idea is that when you put horizontal wells into an oil reservoir, versus vertical ones, the flow level remains high until the water below the oil reaches the level of the horizontal well, when production drops very rapidly.  In contrast, with a vertical well, you get some degradation much sooner (as water starts coming into the bottom of the production zone), but the decline is more gradual as you slowly get more and more water and less and less oil coming from the rock into the well).

Anyway, I haven't checked up on production data there for a while.  The graph above shows the total production of the three main countries involved: the UK, Norway, and a little from Denmark (data from BP).  As you can see, production peaked in 2000 and has tanked since.  If we look at the year-on-year growth rates, we get this:


You can see the very high decline rates reached in the early 2000s.  After 2005, with sustained high oil prices, there was a moderation in the decline rate for a few years (some new fields came on, like Claire and Buzzard).  However, 2010 was the worst year yet, with an 8.6% decline rate.   There seems small doubt that this region is played out and will decline to very little over the next decade or two.

1 comment:

Phil Plasma said...

Stuart, I've been reading your blog here for well over six months now, and hang on every word. Thank you for the detailed reports you write and the excellent charts you prepare.

I have been nominated for a hubpage called 'Peak Oil Further Reading' where I indicate yours is one of the best places to go. Do you mind if I ask your readers to vote for my hub at Vote for Peak Oil Further Reading?