Production efficiency improves for offshore British oil and gas

June 15 (UPI) -- The efficiency of oil and gas operations off the British coast has improved and equates to millions of barrels in additional output, the government said.

Maturation concerns have led to dimmed prospects for the British waters of the North Sea. Royal Dutch Shell has started the process of taking down legacy operations at the Bravo production platform in the North Sea, which supports the Brent oil field. Since production began in 1976, the complex has represented about 10 percent of total British production. Field maturation, however, has forced the idling of the production platforms.

A report from the government's Oil and Gas Authority finds production efficiency offshore has improved to 73 percent over the last four years, however, representing additional production of 12 million barrels of oil equivalent compared to 2015.

Gunther Newcombe, the agency's operations director, said persistence is paying off for North Sea operators, but more work needs to be done.

"In 2016, there was the potential to increase U.K. continental shelf production by 29 million barrels," he said. "If these projects were completed, this would have increased [offshore] production efficiency by another 3 percent."

British supermajor BP is steering North Sea recovery through its Quad 204 regional development effort. Though regional reservoirs are reaching the age of maturity, BP said it aims to double its North Sea production to 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020.

The North Sea redevelopment is the third of seven major projects that BP has planned for this year across its entire portfolio. New production from the Clair Ridge project in the North Sea is expected next year and the company said it plans to drill dozens of new wells in the region before the end of the decade.

The Oil and Gas Authority set a target of bringing production efficiency to 80 percent by the end of the year.