Unplanned shutdowns in the North Sea’s biggest field hit UK production of crude oil by 8.1% in the third quarter of 2013, new figures show.
Closures affecting Nexen’s Buzzard field in August hit UK production and exports “over and above” the general decline in North Sea production in recent years, the report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said.
The country’s trade balance of petroleum products also shifted during the quarter. The UK switched from being a net exporter of refined products such as ethane and naptha to a net importer in September 2013, the DECC reported.
The DECC figures show the UK has been a net exporter of refined products for at least three years.
It is thought the switch in the UK’s export pattern of refined products was affected by disruption at the Grangemouth refinery last year.
DECC added that indigenous production of petroleum products from UK refineries was down 3% overall on the same quarter in 2012, partly due to “shutdowns at refineries for planned maintenance work”.
The Nexen-operated Buzzard is the largest field feeding the North Sea Forties pipeline, which transports the oil underpinning the Brent oil benchmark, making it one of the world’s most important oilfields in terms of its impact on prices.
The field, notorious for breakdowns, saw production volumes fall far short of its capacity during 2012 after being “plagued by various technical and operational issues”, according to a report by the US-based Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The field’s owner, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, was unavailable for comment about shutdowns in August. It took over the field when it acquired Canada’s Nexen in a £9.6billion deal last year.
The DECC’s Energy Trends section three: oil and oil products report published on January 2, said total third-quarter production, including oil and natural gas liquids, fell 7% on the same quarter last year.
Crude oil, however, was down 8.1% “partly due to an unplanned closure at the Buzzard oil field”.
“Oil production over the last 18 months has been impacted by maintenance and other production issues over and above the general decline in North Sea production,” the report said.
But one body representing the offshore industry has contradicted DECC’s claims.
An industry spokes-woman said a 7% decline was “good” compared with 10% year-on-year decline over the last 10 years.
“Better uptime and improved production efficiency are stemming historic decline rates in liquid production,” she insisted.
The spokeswoman added: “It is worth noting that changes to the UK tax regime encouraged investment on the UKCS to rise to £13.5billion in 2013 and this wave of investor confidence – the highest recorded in the past 30 years – sends a strong signal about the opportunities available to the sector and the potential for generating skilled jobs and energising local economies.”
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