UK oil and gas industry consultant Hannon Westwood has said that in 2008 exploration and appraisal drilling in UK waters reached its highest level since 1997.
Of 77 wells drilled, 41 were exploration and 36 were appraisals of previous discoveries, the firm said.
There were 18 exploration and 19 appraisal successes last year, finding or progressing some 841million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) of additional UK reserves compared with 1.08billion produced in the year.
Hannon Westwood said the central North Sea continued to provide the greatest number of exploration wells and the majority of successes.
The northern and southern North Sea and west of Shetland all recorded exploration drilling success.
The firm added that appraisal activity in 2008 continued apace with the central and southern North Sea areas accounting for the majority of activity.
Hannon Westwood also said the 77 wells were operated by 43 companies on behalf of 89 joint-venture participants.
It is estimated that the successful exploration wells found around 488mboe, an average rate of 27.1mboe per well, while 353mboe were progressed by successful appraisal wells, an average rate of 17.7mboe per well.
Finding costs reflect the wide variety of well types, with an overall UKCS average of $2.80 per boe for appraisal and $2.30 per boe for exploration.
On this year’s activity, Hannon Westwood partner Chris Bulley said: “In the early part of 2009 companies are reining-in unnecessary expenditure and discretionary drilling plans have been put on hold. By the end of the first quarter there were seven new well spuds and 10 sidetracks compared with 20 and eight respectively a year earlier.”
