Production from the British sector of the North Sea started 2008 with a slight boost on December's output but still comparably down on the same period last month
Production from the British sector of the North Sea started 2008 with a slight boost on December's output but still comparably down on the same period last month.
According to the latest Oil & Gas Index published by the Royal Bank of Scotland, daily oil output averaged 1.26 million barrels per day in January, 200,00 bpd less than the same month in 2007.
North Sea production, which barely covers UK demand, is in decline much more quickly than predicted. The most pessimist forecasts suggest oil and gas production could be only a sixth of current levels.
The trade association, Oil & Gas UK has warned that unless the trend of companies drilling fewer exploration wells in the North Sea is reversed, about nine years' worth of production, some nine billion barrels of oil and gas could be left.
Oil was discovered in the North Sea in the late 1960s, with production peaking in 1999 at about 4.5 million bpd. The worst scenario is that it could run dry within a decade.
The government insists that there is still at least 16 to 25 years of production left, estimating there are still between 16.5 and 25.5 billion barrels of oil to be recovered, excluding oil yet to be discovered.
