Building Back Better: The Business Case for Multi Operator Well Campaigns in a Diverse Basin

OEUK’s Building Back Better: The Business Case for Multi Operator Well Campaigns in a Diverse Basin

The Improving Partnerships Task Group was created in late 2019 as part of the Wells Task Force, under the North Sea Transition (NST) UK Forum, with the remit to help promote a number of multi-operator, multi-well campaigns to deliver value for UKCS operators and the supply chain.

The benefits achievable from long campaigns of activity are significant and include reducing the time and cost of well operations, overcoming the hurdle of rig mobilisation and demobilisation costs, and improving safety and environmental performance.

This paper aims to demonstrate the business case for multi-operator, multi-well campaigns; to identify the barriers and potential solutions; and to develop next steps and a clear timeline for action.

The Improving Partnerships Task Group was created in late 2019 as part of the Wells Task Force, under the North Sea Transition (NST) UK Forum, with the remit to help promote a number of multi-operator, multi-well campaigns to deliver value for UKCS operators and the supply chain. The benefits achievable from long campaigns of activity are significant and include reducing the time and cost of well operations, overcoming the hurdle of rig mobilisation and demobilisation costs, and improving safety and environmental performance.

Recent Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) modelling determined that the case for campaigning is compelling and the potential savings are significant, emphasising the need to ensure this way of working is adopted. At the time of the group’s formation, the industry was making tentative steps towards recovery following the oil price crash of 2014-16.

Well activity data and benchmarking show that multiple opportunities exist to materially improve well execution performance in the basin to minimise the inefficiencies created by seasonal and financial constraints from commodity price fluctuations. Well activity on the UKCS is now at the lowest level since the UK industry began more than 45 years ago, as a result of the oil and gas price collapse and COVID-19. Securing investment remains challenging and, with continued low levels of activity anticipated, the industry must find ways to ensure the UKCS remains competitive in a global context.