Harbour bullish on UKCS drilling

The firm will add a fifth rig as it seeks to extend reserve life in the basin

It is perhaps an indictment of the level of debate on the role of oil and gas on the journey to net zero that it has taken the tragic events in Ukraine to stimulate greater political and public interest in the relatively low-carbon barrels and molecules available to the UK from the North Sea. But a change in sentiment is noticeable and reinforced by increased enthusiasm for drilling by London-listed Harbour Energy, the largest independent producer on the UK continental shelf (UKCS). The firm has four rigs active in the basin and will add a fifth to drill in the Beryl area in the Northern North Sea by mid-year. One of the four recently arrived at Catcher in the Central North Sea (CNS), where