Oil Redistribution: British Oil Ranking Set to Rise
British oil companies intend to launch several new projects in the North Sea, giving the UK a chance to regain the title of net oil exporter.
Given that the United States is constantly increasing its production, the British plans are bad news for Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which are still trying to come up with new ideas. However, experts urge them not to over-dramatize the situation.
According to a study by JBC Energy GmbH, due to the launch of several new projects in the North Sea this year, the production of crude oil by British companies could even exceed a million barrels per day.
"There is a clear potential for the UK to return to being a net exporter," Bloomberg concludes.
However, it is not specified exactly when this will happen.
On a positive note, analysts have set up plans for the oil industry. At the end of December, an independent company, Premier Oil (is an independent UK oil company with gas and oil interests in the UK, Asia, Africa and Mexico), launched production at the new Catcher oil field in the North Sea. The initial set production at Catcher is ten thousand b /per day, and by mid-2018, it is planned to increase this to 60 thousand b /per day.
Oil and gas giant BP Plc last year began developing a joint project with Shell and Siccar Point Energy project Quad 204 (Quad 204 is the multi-billion-pound redevelopment of the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, located 175 kilometers west of the Shetland Islands), the capacity of which is estimated at 130,000 barrels of oil per day.
Another industry leader, Shell, said in January that it had made an investment decision on the development of the Penguins oil and gas field in the North Sea. In the framework of the project it is planned to drill eight new production wells. The maximum production level will be approximately 45 thousand barrels a day.
According to a study by JBC Energy GmbH, due to the launch of several new projects in the North Sea this year, the production of crude oil by British companies may exceed one million barrels per day.
At present, the daily oil consumption in the country is about 1.5 million barrels, while in 2017, the United Kingdom produced an average of 914 thousand barrels of crude oil.
The United Kingdom, through new projects in the North Sea, can become a net exporter of oil with production of more than 1 million barrels of oil per day. But the problem for London is that the oil reserves in the North Sea are largely depleted, so production growth is unstable.
However, even if Britain succeeds in oil growth, it will not have much influence on the alignment of forces in the market. Now, oil production in the world as a whole is about 95-100 million b / per day, making the above potential UK share about 1%.
By Dimitri Dolaberidze