The Oil and Gas Authority has outlined its priorities for Enhance Oil Recovery (EOR) on the UKCS.
The industry regulator said there was still a “significant prize to be gained” by increasing recovery from existing oil fields in the North Sea.
There are currently only two active EOR schemes on the UKCS which includes a hydrocarbon miscible gas injection scheme at Magnus and a pilot polymer EOR scheme at the Captain field.
The OGA said its ambition is to support the delivery of up to 250mmboe through EOR by working with operators and the supply chain to support existing polymer projects and ensuring readiness for future projects.
The document comes just a few weeks after a decommissioning strategy was also published.
In its latest report, the OGA said EOR would play a huge role in maximising economic recovery from the UKCS by extending field life by up to 10 years and supporting job provision.
But it said offshore EOR remains “largely unattractive economically” as outlined in Sir Ian Wood’s Maximising Recovery Review.
In its corporate plan the OGA has committed to delivering its strategy to facilitate sanctioning, by 2021, of projects designed to deliver up to 250 million barrels of oil equivalent of additional reserves.
The OGA said it plans to demonstrate a proven offshore operation of low salinity EOR by 2021as well as encouraging evaluations for all new projects.
It also plans to advance “the next tranche of EOR technologies” as well as developing a framework for their economic implementation.
There are currently five EOR projects which have Field Development Plans (FDPs) in place including at Clair Ridge, Schiehallion and Magnus.
The report said current low oil prices have resulted in the OGA developing an EOR strategy “focused primarily on existing UK EOR projects and those future projects that will benefit from low-cost EOR technologies”.
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