Insight
UK Upstream 2016 in review: The good, the bad and the ugly
Report summary
2016 was a year of depressed activity in the UKCS, but the tide began to turn towards the end of the year. Unsurprisingly, investment was down for the second year in a row as the oil price continued to bite. For many companies it was a case of fighting for survival, and it was a close call in some cases. This meant exploration was an afterthought for many. But, there were some positives amid the doom and gloom. Production continued to grow with a couple of key fields starting production. Big operating costs reductions were realised across the basin — key to prolonging the life of mature fields. M&A activity picked up in the second half of the year, with private equity leading the way. We also saw sweeping cuts to the marginal tax rate, making the fiscal regime fit for the maturity of the basin.
Table of contents
- Executive summary
-
Capital expenditure down 20% again
- Under development fields account for 80% of 2016 spend
-
Decommissioning spend broke £1 billion
- The Majors are still the mainstay of UKCS investment
-
A bumper year for UKCS production
- Production is up and opex is down
- Drilling was down but cost reductions were realised
- Volumes discovered were the highest since 2008
- Government funded seismic and the first Frontier Licensing Round hope to boost exploration
- Sweeping cuts to marginal tax rate make the UKCS internationally competitive
-
Deal value traded halves
- Private equity made its first move in the largest upstream deal since 2012
Tables and charts
This report includes 16 images and tables including:
- UK Upstream 2016 in review: The good, the bad and the ugly: Image 1
- 2016 Top 10 fields by decommissioning spend
- 2012-2016 drilling vs well P&A
- UK Upstream 2016 in review: The good, the bad and the ugly: Table 1
- 2009-2016 Liquids production
- 2009-2016 Gas production
- Capital expenditure by year
- Capital expenditure by sector for 2016
- 2016 Top 10 projects by capex
- 2016 Top 10 companies by capex
- UK Upstream 2016 in review: The good, the bad and the ugly: Table 2
- 2016 onstream fields
- Well completions and volumes discovered
- 2016 vs 2014 well trends
- 2016 discoveries
- UK Upstream 2016 in review: The good, the bad and the ugly: Table 5
What's included
This report contains:
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