Oil and gas industry in the United Kingdom

The oil and gas industry in the United Kingdom produced 1.42 million boepd in 2014, of which 59% was oil/liquids. In 2013 the UK consumed 1.508 million bpd of oil and 2.735tcf of gas, so is now an importer of hydrocarbons having been a significant exporter in the 1980s and 1990s.

98% of production comes from offshore fields and the services industry in Aberdeen has been a leader in developing technology for hydrocarbon extraction offshore. Historically most gas came from Morecambe Bay and the Southern North Sea off East Anglia, but both areas are now in decline. Oil comes mainly from the North Sea Central Graben close to the median line with Norway in two main clusters - around the Forties oilfield east of Aberdeen and the Brent oilfield east of Shetland. There have been recent discoveries in challenging conditions west of Shetland. As of 2012^[update] there were 15,729 kilometres (9,774 mi)of pipelines linking 113 oil installations and 189 gas installations. The only major onshore field is Wytch Farm in Dorset but there are a handful oil wells scattered across England. There is significant shale potential in the Weald and in the Bowland Shale under Lancashire & Yorkshire, but only a few wells have been drilled amongst considerable protests.

The UK's strengths in financial services have led it to play a leading role in energy trading through markets such as ICE Futures (formerly the International Petroleum Exchange). The price of Brent Crude from the British North Sea remains the major benchmark for the international oil trade, and the National Balancing Point market is the benchmark for most of the gas traded across Europe. The difficult offshore conditions make the UK a high-cost producer; in 2014 the average development cost was $20.40/boe and the operating cost was $27.80/boe for a total of $48.20/boe. In 2014 the industry spent £1.1bn on exploration, £14.8bn on capital investment and £9.6bn on operating costs. Fields developed since 1993 are taxed through an additional corporation tax on profits, in 2014 the industry generated £2.8bn in direct taxes.

...
Wikipedia