Shell sticking with Brent

Jeremy Beckman
Europe Editor

ABERDEEN, UK --Shell remains committed to the UK North Sea, but will continue its policy of selling mature fields to willing buyers.

Malcolm Brinded, executive director, Exploration & Production, said in his keynote speech at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen this week that "in some cases, other players are better placed to manage the final stages of field life - not least because they are more ready to commit the people and capital needed."

There is no intention at present to exit the Brent complex, although nothing could be ruled out, Brinded said. Seventeen years ago, Shell implemented a depressurization project to extend Brent's productive life, and that scheme has exceeded the company's incremental recovery target. But now Shell needs to look further ahead at remaining options, including decommissioning.

"We know from our understanding of the subsurface that these are assets we ourselves can add most value to," Brinded explained, implying that Brent is unlikley to be offered for sale. Otherwise, the company is focusing at present on tying subsea satellites into its existing infrastrutcure in the UK central and southern north Sea. "This is the area where we started in the 1969s, and it's still quite exciting, with more pockets of gas for us to develop".

He added: "We must maximize our window of opportunity while the development infrastructure is still in place. If many of these opportunities are not taken in the next decade, they won't be developed."

09/05/2007