North Sea oil and gas bounce may be short-lived
The UK oil industry’s trade body is cautious over prospects for the maturing oil province
Scant exploration activity and flat capital expenditure remain concerning for a UK North Sea industry that faces a battle to replace maturing hydrocarbons reserves, despite a projected rise in production this year and progress with some major projects. The latest Business Outlook from industry body Oil and Gas UK forecast oil and gas production on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) would rise by around 5% in 2018 to 620m-640m barrels of oil equivalent (boe), assuming new fields come on stream as planned and existing field operators can maintain efficiency improvements seen since the oil price crash of 2014. Given the sector downturn and the maturity of the North Sea oil province, companie
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