Reuters
Scotland tells energy execs North Sea not finished
Tuesday May 6, 4:43 pm ET
HOUSTON, May 6 (Reuters) - North Sea oil fields are only in their middle age and nowhere near being finished, the director of Scottish economic development efforts in the energy industry said on Tuesday.
"The North Sea is by no means a dead duck," said Brian Nixon, director of energy for Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's economic development agency. "We've got 30 years' life in it."
Since 1965, the North Sea has produced 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Nixon said. There are estimated to be 24 billion to 32 billion barrels of oil equivalent left to be produced.
But in 2002, $5 billion worth of North Sea assets were sold by major integrated oil companies to smaller independent companies for development. Typical of the trend was BP Plc.'s (London:BP.L - News) sale this year of its once-prolific Forties field to Apache Corp.(NYSE:APA - News)
"For instance, the Forties field for BP wasn't on the radar screen. For Apache, it's their largest asset," Nixon said about recent sale of a North Sea asset.
The departure of the majors from the North Sea is not viewed as a drawback to its future.
"Our belief is these independents will work these assets much longer and much harder than the majors," he said.
Nixon is spending 11 days meeting with energy executives in United States, most in Houston, where he attended the Offshore Technology Conference on Tuesday. |
