f Key Enablers for a Prolonged Oil and Gas Production in the North Sea

The North Sea is one of the most prolific petroleum basins in the world. Since the first discoveries in the 1960’s this basin has delivered a significant part of the world’s oil and gas production. However, the North Sea is now a mature basin and many fields are in the tail-end phase. The industry’s continued investment in resource maturation has led to a longer life for many oil and gas fields as new discoveries have been tied back to the existing infrastructure. Continuation of this trend will require a major effort from industry supported by facilitation from the authorities. Such effort is required on existing fields, where improved oil recovery can contribute substantial value, mostly through the drilling of additional production wells. In addition, a high level of exploration drilling is required in the coming years to discover the remaining resources in time to be evacuated over existing infrastructure.