Shell predict healthy future for North Sea oil into 2030s
A senior executive at Shell has predicted a bright future for the North Sea into the next decade and beyond.
Steve Phimister, upstream vice president for the UK and Ireland for the multinational oil giant, said the company had no plans to sell off any more assets in the region.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdSpeaking at an event in Aberdeen yesterday he said: “We have, in the last year, conducted quite a significant divestment of a package of assets. It’s been done very intentionally and very clearly with an intention to focus on our core business.
“We’ve said we will invest millions, maybe north of $500million a year in order to rejuvenate that portfolio and keep it sustained.”
Mr Phimister hailed a “great year” and said Shell expected 2018 to be a strong year.
He added: “I think that we have a very strong portfolio right out into the 2030s.”
In October, Norwegian energy giant Statoil announced that a new discovery in Scottish waters could contain in the range of 25 to 130 million barrels of oil.
The discovery came just weeks after research suggested that the UK’s oil industry was entering its final decade of production.
A study of output from offshore fields estimates about 10 per cent of the nation’s original recoverable oil and gas remains, according to the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences. If the predictions are correct the UK would soon have to import all the oil and gas it needs, the university’s scientists warned.
Scottish energy minister Paul Wheelhouse, said Statoil’s findings highlight “the significant potential for oil and gas which still exists under Scotland’s waters”.