New UK initiative addresses improved recovery, efficiency

Sept. 16, 2014
PILOT, the government/industry forum focused on maximizing economic recovery of the UK’s remaining oil and gas resources, has established the Technology Leadership Board (TLB).

Offshore staff

LONDON – PILOT, the government/industry forum focused on maximizing economic recovery of the UK’s remaining oil and gas resources, has established the Technology Leadership Board (TLB).

The board aims to ensure that technology development on theUK continental shelf (UKCS) is collaborative, directed toward priority areas, relevant to multi-field application, and in line with government recommendations.

Oonagh Werngren,Oil & Gas UK’s operations director, said: “In a mature basin like the UKCS, the easiest to recover reserves have already been extracted. Technological innovation is therefore a key factor in helping companies to produce oil and gas from technically complex fields including those with heavy oil and very deep reservoirs, difficult shallow-water gas fields or those with high-pressure/high-temperature characteristics…

“The TLB will also draw on work being done by PILOT work groups, which are addressing the potential for technology to improve exploration success, increase production efficiency, raise recovery levels, and safely extend the operating lives of oil and gas fields on the UKCS.”

Paul Warwick, executive vice president of Talisman Energy, will chair the TLB, which comprises leaders from industry, academia, and representatives from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), InnovateUK, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF).

09/16/2014