The UKCS 2024 Wells Insights Report from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) stated there is a huge opportunity to access resources in a timelier, clean and cost-effective way to support the UK’s supply chain.

The report revealed that well intervention is currently able to provide hydrocarbon production at a cost of less than £12/boe, making it a very attractive option in line with today’s oil and gas prices. The report outlines the importance of operators striving to increase their well intervention activity in order to extend the production lifespan of their wells, and to provide a stable flow of work for the UK’s supply chain.

Carlo Procaccini, NSTA Chief Technical Officer, said, “Well intervention work can and does produce impressive results, boosting efficiency and providing cleaner and cost-effective production. We expect that bringing together operators with the supply chain will highlight significant opportunities for everyone.”

In 2023, interventions increased in the Northern North Sea to 102 wells, compared to the 82 in 2022. There has also been an increase West of Shetland where nine wells benefitted from intervention work last year, up from two in 2022. However, Central North Sea, Southern North Sea and the east Irish Sea have experienced a decrease in activity.

To encourage more interventions, the NTSA has already held one-to-one sessions with leading North Sea operators and completed a detailed study of 795 shut-in wells to understand the percentage figure that could be brought back online.

Separately, the report outlined that a total active well stock on the UKCS currently sits at 2,546, down from 2,560 in 2022. The past year has also seen an increase in the number of shut-in wells to an all-time high of 31% of the active well stock (795 wells). While a proportion of these wells could be brought back online, without the necessary investment in infrastructure or downhole interventions, it is more likely these wells will be permanently decommissioned.

In terms of spending, the report highlighted the total exploration and appraisal well spend was UK£571mn, compared to UK£275mn in 2022.