Thursday 2 May 2019

The Oil and Gas Authority has identified over 30+ existing technologies which are critical for the future of UKCS and is supporting North Sea operators to deploy the best technologies for their assets.

The ‘UKCS Technology Insights 2018’ report published on 1 May, showcases a range of existing, emerging and further-required technologies to enable MER UK. The OGA expects operators to deploy key existing technologies, urging them to share lessons learned to support each other in deployment, including maintaining a close dialogue with the supply chain to consider the latest innovations.

In all 74 operators formulated technology plans for their UKCS assets and submitted these as part of the OGA’s annual stewardship survey. The focus of this year’s report is the opportunities for wider technology adoption and deployment.

Other findings include:

- Oil and gas operators spent over £240m in 2018 on developing and deploying technologies, an increase of 30% since 2016, with the trend forecast to continue.

- Operators’ plans, on aggregate, cover the full asset lifecycle, with more emphasis on asset management and a growing interest in decommissioning.

- 57% of technologies in operators’ plans leverage existing solutions, whilst 26% of technologies are still under development with a further 17% of opportunities at concept stage.

- Closer engagement with the supply chain is required as their contribution to providing technology solutions is crucial.

The report focussed on critical factors required to deliver effective technology such as operators’ sharing their experiences of deploying recent technologies; collaborating on the development and piloting of new technologies to reduce cycle time and risk; and closer engagement with the supply chain, as most technologies are developed and deployed by the clients or service companies. To aid these objectives, the OGA will shortly publish a technology experience and learning portal on its website.

Gunther Newcombe, Director of Operations at the OGA said: “It’s good to see operators and the supply chain progressing work to deploy technologies, however it’s critical that appropriate existing technologies are fully utilised across the UKCS to maximise economic recovery. Through its stewardship process the OGA will work with operators to ensure they deploy and adapt known technologies.”

Carlo Procaccini, Head of Technology at the OGA added: “The role technology plays in our industry is more essential than ever to sustain UKCS global competitiveness and enable MER UK. Operators need to constantly improve how they apply technology to keep pace and find solutions to UKCS asset needs. This OGA report provides valuable insights into operators’ technology plans, including the latest technologies that companies are using today, to future technologies being developed, also with the support of the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and Technology Leadership Board (TLB).”

Colette Cohen, CEO of the OGTC said: “The OGTC has co-invested more than £100 million in developing and deploying technologies that positively impact the North Sea. We are delighted to see the publication of the new Technology Insights Report which demonstrates the value technology can deliver by improving performance, increasing recovery and reducing costs. Broader uptake of existing proven technologies, alongside continued investment in new innovations, are key to moving the dial on performance and delivering a sustainable future for the North Sea.”

Bill Dunnett, Chair of the UKCS Technology Leadership Board said: “This year’s Technology Insights summarises the rich content of UKCS operators’ technology plans, submitted through the OGA annual Stewardship Survey in 2018. This gives the industry a very useful tool to share experience on available technologies to maximise economic recovery (MER UK) from the UKCS, and to collaborate on the development of new ones.”

A copy of the report can be downloaded from here.