New technologies key to develop complex N. Sea fields

PILOT, the government-industry forum focused on initiatives to maximise economic recovery of the UK’s oil and gas resource, has established The Technology Leadership Board (TLB).

The objective of the TLB is to drive forward the actions of the Government’s industrial strategy to ensure technology development on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is collaborative, directed towards priority areas and relevant to multi field application.

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.”

Werngren adds: “Both PILOT and the Oil and Gas Industry Council established by the joint Industrial Strategy  acknowledge the need to establish a body such as the TLB to co-ordinate and lead activities on a UK-wide basis  to identify priority technology areas and make sure the resources are in place to deliver them. 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 Inc. will chair the TLB, which comprises senior 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).

Warwick commented: “In addition to driving UK-wide activity by establishing technology delivery groups to focus on priority areas, the remit of the TLB is to strengthen connections between industry and organisations such as the industry technology facilitator (ITF) and the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), established by the Scottish Government to support collaboration between industry and Scotland’s universities and research institutes.  In this way, the TLB will develop stronger links with the extensive community of technology innovators in the UK, which includes small to medium enterprises, world-leading universities and their centres for doctoral training. “

“The TLB will also ensure existing technologies are deployed to their full effect as well as promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the technology supply chain. It will act as a catalyst to encourage greater industry research and development spend, accelerate technology implementation and ensure its development is collaborative – which is key to the industry’s ability to maintain the competitiveness of the UKCS, attract investment and sustain activity for years to come.”

[mappress]