This month Infield looks at the subsea completion market of the North West European Continental Shelf (NWECS), examining the type of operators in the region and how this is forecast to change from 2000-2004 to the current prospects across 2005-2009.
Prospects for the region draw on an area slightly wider than the North Sea, and include those prospects to the west of Shetlands, Ireland, and the Norwegian Sea.
A common assumption is that the area has and is still witnessing visible signs of structural change where assets are transferred from fully integrated oil companies to smaller independents and whose lower overheads and suggested greater flexibility allow marginal fields to be developed economically.
The graphs represent the operator type (by nominated operator) for subsea completions in the NWECS. The number of wells represented from 2000-2004 is 478 and from 2005-2009 is 607. However, the projected figures are prospects that can suffer from re-scheduling, and therefore the forecast figures will be lower.
The data supports the assumption that structural change is occurring in NWECS. The independents’ share of the subsea completions coming onstream is forecast to rise 12% between the two periods. Also of note, but not shown, is that within the independents’ share, the number of operating independents is forecast to double over the two periods.
Will Rowley
Director of Analytical Services, Infield Systems
