The UK Oil and Gas Authority has published the Enhanced Oil Recovery Strategy, which it says is one of a number of strategies to “drive the direction of a new way of working across the oil and gas lifecycle.”
Each strategy will be followed by an accompanying delivery program, providing further direction and detail on the implementation of the strategy.
The OGA has developed the EOR Strategy in collaboration with industry and the MER (Maximize Economic Recovery) UK boards in support of the MER UK Strategy and OGA Corporate Plan. Its priorities are:
Driving economic development of 250 MMboe incremental reserves, primarily through polymer EOR over the next decade
Supporting existing EOR projects to ensure readiness for future projects
Demonstrating a proven offshore operation oflow-salinity EOR and progressing further opportunities by encouraging evaluations for all new projects.
The development of a series of strategies represents a key step in setting the direction of how the OGA and industry will work together to MER from theUK continental shelf (UKCS), OGA said. It was also one of the core recommendations of the Wood Review.
The MER UK Strategy underpins the OGA’s work and came into force in March 2016. It describes how MER should operate in practice, setting out a legally binding central obligation to take the steps necessary to secure the maximum value of economically recoverable hydrocarbons. It also sets out a range of supporting obligations as well as the required actions and behaviors of collaboration and cost reduction.
