UKCS Technology Insights offers a unique insight into companies' technology portfolios, including strategies to access further required technologies for MER UK. This study is based on the technology plans which have been submitted to the OGA by UKCS operators, for the first time as part of last year’s Stewardship Survey.

The study of over 60 UKCS operators’ technology plans revealed:

  • A total of over 300 technologies reported, covering the entire asset lifecycle, from seismic to asset management and decommissioning
  • Perceived need for innovative solutions, with over 45% of the technologies listed under development and not yet fully tested
  • However, reluctance by the majority of UKCS operators (70%) to adopt technologies for which there is still insufficient experience in our basin
  • In total, UKCS operators spent £185m on Research and Development (R&D) and field pilots in 2016, a decline of 35% from before the oil price crisis
  • Only a small group of ‘leading’ operators (11% of respondents) accounted for 85% of this technology spend, with another 70% of operators, instead, not investing in R&D and entirely reliant on the supply chain for their technology needs

The comparison of individual operators’ plans showed that many existing technologies could be more widely adopted, and that more collaboration among operators on developing novel technologies of common interest is possible.

Technology Insights report