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A significant discovery of light oil in sandstones with excellent porosity has been made on the Tampen Spur in the North Sea. Prior to this find, the area was thought to be both gas-prone and to have poor reservoir parameters.
North Sea Renaissance (NSR) is an ongoing long offset 2D seismic program that will total
some 85,000 km at the end of this year. The program is acquired with a cable length of 8,000
m, while data processing is optimised for the purpose of deep imaging and AVO capabilities.
The installation of a permanent seismic array in the Norwegian Valhall field enables the operator to run frequent 4D re-shoots, and the amount of oil to be recovered may increase substantially by managing the reservoir better.
Both the UK and the Norwegian sector of the North Sea have reached maturity, meaning that most future discoveries will probably be in the small to medium range (i.e. <100 MMboe) and that small, independent oil companies will increase their share of acreage acquisition and drilling.
Most of the sub-basins of the North Sea geological province are now considered to be
in a mature exploration phase. The supermajors are consequently on their way out.
Thanks to various initiatives in both the Norwegian and UK Sectors, however, the pace
of exploration is being kept up by a high number of ambitious small companies.
Tim Dodson is exploration manager for Statoil in on the Norwegian Contintental shelf. We talk to him about the
company’sassets offshore Norway and the rest of the world.
Since gas first flowed from the West Sole Field in the Southern North Sea in 1967 , the exploitation of hydrocarbons has been a major source of revenue for successive UK governments. After a partial decline in the 1990’s, the industry is once more buoyant, with more and more companies showing interest in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).
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