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North West Europe First Quarter Review 2012
Security of energy supply in Europe
Africa in the spotlight: a review of E&P activity in Africa 2011
Australian oil and gas drilling and licensing Q4 2011
North West Europe End of Year Review 2011
North Sea Offshore Decommissioning Report
Southeast Asia upstream E&P and fiscal highlights
Australian oil and gas drilling and licensing Q3 2011
Middle East and North Africa regional oil and gas report
Gulf of Guinea: Unlocking a new frontier
North West Europe Third Quarter Review 2011
South East Asia exploration highlights
Brazil: Before pre-salt
Russia licensing activity
Dutch Government's Gas Hub Policy
World Oil: Mixed levels of activity in the North Sea
North West Europe Second Quarter Review 2011
Oil and gas exploration in Australia 2000 - 2010
North West Europe First Quarter Review 2011
A review of E&P activity in Africa 2010
Decommissioning UKCS
Insights and trends in SE Asia upstream fiscal regimes
North West Europe End of Year Review 2010
How to set up a business in Greenland
Export controls and the new Iranian sanctions
Re-discovering Iraq
Drilling activity in North West Europe
Numerical study on wellbore stability analysis considering volumetric failure
North West Europe Third Quarter Review 2010
Brazilian offshore E&P investment perspectives
The UKCS Offshore Decommissioning Report 2010-2040
Brazil Upstream Guide 2010
Gas storage needs in Great Britain to 2020
Russian petroleum sector today
North Sea exploration and appraisal report
World Oil: Light at the end of the tunnel for the North Sea
Asia Pacific exploration: past, present and future
UK's emergency budget 2010
Australian oil and gas: past, present and future
African annual review of upstream activity 2009
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North West Europe End of Year Review 2011

Drilling activity down 34% across UK Continental Shelf in 2011

January 2012

Norway E&A drilling activity

The North West Europe End of Year Review was released in January 2012,analysing trends in exploration and appraisal (E&A) drilling, field development, licensing and deal activity in the region throughout 2011.

The report highlights that the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) experienced a 34% decrease in drilling activity year on year with a total of 49 wells spudded compared to 74 wells in 2010. This is the lowest level since 2003 and represents a 37% drop on the average number of wells spudded each year for the last decade. The trend in the UK is very different from the rest of North West Europe, however, with the Netherlands, Denmark and Greenland experiencing levels either above or equal to the previous year.

The number of new field start-ups has decreased in 2011 compared to 2009 and 2010 for both the UK and Norway. However, the number of field development approvals has risen in both countries with a number of significant projects announced in the UK. These include the BP-operated Kinnoull, Clair Ridge and Quad 204 projects.

Deal activity in 2011 remained positive with a total of 73% of the 118 deals recorded throughout North West Europe taking place in the UK (52%) and Norway (21%). Farm-ins remained the most common type of deal (53%) with asset acquisitions representing 18% of all activity, a marginal increase on 2010 figures.

Request a copy of the report

Request the PDF > North West Europe End of Year Review 2011
(PDF | 32 pages | 861 KB)

Press coverage

Details of the review, as well as comments from Graham Sadler, managing director of Petroleum Services, are included in several industry publications:

More > BBC: Offshore drilling in UK waters 'falls by a third'

More > Reuters: UK energy exploration sapped by economic gloom

More > Upstream: UK drilling drops a third

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