RE: Oil production figures

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
> [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Al Koop
> Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 9:44 AM
> To: asa@calvin.edu
> Subject: Oil production figures Through 162 days this year, U.S. oil
production is
> down 248,000 b/d versus the first 162 days of last year. The
> magnitude of the decline is surprising considering all the
> deep-water GOM fields that were expected to be brought
> on-line during 2003-2004 (Na Kika, Medussa, Matterhorn,
> Habanero, Horn Mountain, Front Runner, Devil's Tower and Gunnison).

Gunnison is one of my discoveries!

>
> To add to what I had previously written, I have estimated
> that the United Kingdom's oil production will decline at an
> average rate of 4.8%/year after 1999. For the period
> 1999-2003, the U.K.'s production decline was 22.8%. In 2001,
> there were 52 U.K. fields with peak production rates of at
> least 25,000 b/d that had been in decline for at least 3
> years. The average decline rate for the 52 fields was 15.4%
> for 2000-2001. To counteract the high decline rates of
> ageing fields, smaller fields are being brought on-line at an
> accelerating rate. In 2002, there were over 260 U.K. fields
> in production with 84 fields under development. That is up
> from ~50 producing fields in 1990. The fields that are now
> being brought on- line start production at or near their
> maximum production rates. Many will probably have lifetimes
> of less than 10 years. In an extreme example of small fields
> having short lifetimes, the Durward and Dauntless fields
> were brought on-line in August 1997 and terminated in April 1999.

Durward was a failure of major proportions. Amerada Hess had the FPSO
(the production boat) for sail for over 3 years. It was tied up to a
dock for that long.

>
> Several points can be made concerning the decline of ageing
> North Sea fields. First, the application of modern
> technology in the extraction of oil has not prevented rapid
> production declines. Modern technology actually creates high
> decline rates by accelerating extraction rates in the early
> phase of extraction which leads to high decline rates after
> the production peak. Second, not all oil fields decline at
> the same rate due to a variety of factors, but all fields
> with peaks >25,000 b/d that had been in decline for at least
> 6 years had declined more than 50% from their maximum
> production rates.

Having worked the UK for 3 years that is absolutely true.
Received on Fri Jul 2 23:19:58 2004