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A technology-fueled future

The Next 50 Years is the strap-line of this year’s SPE Offshore Europe— underpinning those fve decades will be technology, says BP’s North Sea regional president.

Elaine Maslin reports.

This year this mature basin are rising costs and note session during Offshore Europe.

SPE Offshore declining production rates. The session, The Technology

Europe is According to industry body Oil & Imperative – collaborating today to celebrat- Gas UK, North Sea operational expen- realize the next 50 years of North Sea th ing its 40 diture rose 10% for the second year potential, will look at the role technol- anniversary running in 2012, to £7.7billion, with a ogy has played in the development of by looking further rise of £800million in 2013. the North Sea to date, and the role it forward to a The increases are being driven will play in accessing and recovering prospect few in the early days of the by general pressure on costs and the remaining reserves in the future.

North Sea’s offshore industry would increased spending on asset integrity, “The big challenge for the indus- have predicted. as installations near or pass the end of try is to arrest the decline we have

More than four decades after the frst their design lives. seen,” Garlick says. “One of the ways oil was produced from the basin, the Production rates have dropped we can do this is to recover more industry event is looking forward to sharply, last year falling 18%, on the from our assets. We estimate aver-

The Next 50 Years, of both production UK Continental Shelf. age recovery rates from North Sea and the supply chain. Ensuring the long term future of the reservoirs to be around 40%, mean-

Key to the past 40 years, and even North Sea, in the UK and Norway, will ing we leave more in the ground than more so for the next fve decades, is the require technology and collaboration, we recover; I want this to change. development and use of technology. says BP North Sea regional president

Technology has a vital role in helping

The challenges facing the industry in Trevor Garlick, who is chairing a key- ensure we do this.”

BP North Sea is focusing on develop-

BP has developed life of feld 4D seismic, or permanent seismic installation, ing ways to drill and complete wells at featuring 120km of permanently trenched GERI ocean bottom cables on its Valhall a lower cost, improving plant reliabil- feld in the Norwegian North Sea.

ity and asset integrity and enhanced oil recovery.

The UK industry as a whole has similar goals. According to a survey last year by the country’s government

Department of Energy and Climate

Change (DECC), the main areas the industry wants to focus on are: seis- mic and reservoir characterization; enhanced oil recovery (EOR)/produc- tion optimization; asset integrity/life extension and decommissioning; and well construction and drilling.

“A key priority is to obtain better images of the reservoir,” Garlick says. “Our own seismic technology strategy is three-fold.”

BP is using wide azimuth high den- sity OBC (ocean bottom cable) acqui- sition to identify additional targets in hub areas, including on Farragon,

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