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51 comments on The architecture of UK offshore oil production in relation to future production models

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Essex Land Rover Man on November 25, 2006 - 12:02pm Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
The Piper Alpha oil rig explosion of 1998 that led to

I believe Piper Alpha was 1988. Other than this very minor quibble, an excellent posting. I had no idea UK was going to be producing so much new oil in the next few years. I can see why some commentators are saying UK NS oil production will increase, forgetting that the underlying decline rate is even bigger than the expected boost from new oil fields.

A great article Euan and many thanks for putting some flesh on the oil production bones.

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Euan Mearns on November 25, 2006 - 12:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Essex LRM - thanks for noting error on Piper - which I've corrected.
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plucky underdog on November 26, 2006 - 11:53pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Wasn't there an explosion on Brent in the late 1980s that shut most of the field down for over a year and took more than a Piper's worth of production offline? You can see it very clearly in the Brent skin on Figure 1. Bad luck it happened when it did, but it made the 1990s dip much sharper and deeper. And the tightening up of safety regs post-Piper probably delayed the return to service of the affected platforms, as it delayed so much else in the UKCS.
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Euan Mearns on November 27, 2006 - 6:47am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Plucky, you may be right.  I'd certainly noticed the big dip in Brent production.  I thought the DTI had told me that was due to installation of sub sea well control valves.  Its something that is worth checking out.
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plucky underdog on November 27, 2006 - 10:42pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I haven't found anything definite yet on what caused that exact dip, but here is a fascinating database of ofshore incidents and accidents, mostly (but not exclusively) from the North Sea:

http://oilrigwork.netfirms.com/Accidents.htm

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