UK upstream 2017 in review: big deals and new fields Report

Insight 12 January 2018

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Report summary

It was a year of ups and downs for the UK sector. The ups: the return of billion dollar deals and the start-up of 12 new fields that will add 220kboe/d at peak production. The downs: another big drop in investment levels, and only two small projects sanctioned. After three years of instability though, the sector is now going through somewhat of a renaissance. Further shifts in 2017 mean that the UK now has a drastically different ownership, and regulator, compared to pre-downturn. We look at the main themes from 2017, including: M&A – what changed hands and why? Production – which new fields came onstream? Exploration – where did volumes come from? Investment – what projects are topping the spend list? Decommissioning – who were the biggest spenders this year?

Executive Summary
- Big deals back on the table
- Production up 6%, but impact of Forties Pipeline shutdown still playing out
- Majors returned to exploration, but commercial success remains elusive
- A tale of two discoveries
- High impact drilling and cheaper wells
- Licensing rounds – frontier attracts big hitters
- Development spend drops over 30%from 2016
- Costs continued to fall, and projects still being optimised
- Well P&A remains the biggest market in decommissioning: £700 million in 2017
- Top 10 Insight reports by visits in 2017
- Appendix