LONDON, March 26 (UPI) -- The British government said Thursday total oil production was down by 3.6 percent and gas production was down more than 1 percent during the last few months.
Preliminary data from the British Department of Energy and Climate Change show total domestic production of oil in the three months ending in January dropped off 3.6 percent while gas production declined by 1.1 percent compared with the same period last year.
Total 2014 production of petroleum was down 2.3 percent "as a result of long-term decline and maintenance activity," though natural gas production was up slightly by 0.3 percent
"The overall rate of decline in 2014 was the lowest for 12 years at 1.5 percent compared with the average decline of 7.9 per cent over the previous 10 years," the department said.
A February report from industry body Oil & Gas U.K. found a bright spot in an otherwise "bleak" year for North Sea oil and gas work was that production slipped 1 percent year-on-year.
A weak commodity market is starving energy companies of revenue needed to continue with robust spending programs in 2015. Despite the slump, the survey found oil and gas production should increase slightly to 1.43 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, provided there are no major disruptions.
A budget plan outlined last week in London is aimed at boosting exploration for new oil and gas reserves in British territorial waters. Tax incentives in the new package should help stimulate investor confidence in a North Sea oil and gas industry coping with the decline of older fields, officials said.
Critics of the tax regime said it put too much emphasis on oil and gas to the detriment of renewable energy. The DECC report Thursday, however, said energy generated from bioenergy and waste rose by 14 percent to reach and record for full-year 2014. Electricity produced from wind and hydro sources rose by 17.9 percent, also a record.
