Key figures

Daily production: 14,399.66 barrels per day
Weight: 58,472.4 tonnes
Volume: 70,967 m3
Volume of onshore as a proportion of UK total oil production: 1.80%

The data in this post was compiled by the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) from reports by oil companies. It is published three months in arrears. All the charts are based on OGA data

Details

Rise in daily production

• August 2021 saw a 2% rise in daily production
• It was the third highest monthly figure in 2021 so far
• But production was 2% down on August 2020 and 11% down on August 2019

Volume and weight up slightly

• Both volume and weight were up 2% on July 2021, continuing a rise since June 2021
• But both measures were more than 2% below the level in August 2020 and 11% below August 2019
• Weight of onshore oil produced has been below 60,000 tonnes for seven consecutive months
• Volume was back above 70,000m3 for the first time since May 2021

Onshore proportion of total UK production

• August 2021 was the second consecutive monthly fall in onshore oil’s share of total UK production
• At 1.80%, onshore production in August 2021 was the lowest contribution to total UK production since March 2021

Top sites

• The top three ranking sites for UK onshore production, Wytch Farm, Welton and Singleton, remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive month.
• But Stockbridge, which had ranked fourth since February 2021, fell to ninth place.
• Actual monthly production also fell at Stockbridge, as well as another eight fields in the top 20 (Singleton, Glentworth, Horse Hill, Cold Hanworth, Bletchingley, Kimmeridge, Long Clawson and Wareham)
• Actual monthly production rose at nine fields (Wytch Farm, Welton, Humbly Grove, Whisby, Scampton North, Beckingham, Corringham, Gainsborough and Crosby Warren).
• Production at Horndean and Storrington was stable.

Stockbridge

Production at the Stockbridge field in Hampshire was down 57% from 644 tonnes in July 2021 to 410 tonnes in August 2021. This was the lowest monthly production at Stockbridge since November 2014. The field’s contribution to UK onshore production fell from 1.13% in July 2021 to 0.7% in August 2021.

Horse Hill

The Horse Hill field in Surrey, operated by UK Oil & Gas, saw its lowest production in 2021 so far and continued a downward trend since March 2021. The site dropped another place in the rankings to 11^th. At its peak, it was placed fourth in May 2020 after Wytch Farm, Welton and Singleton. Production of formation water all fell at the site this month, down from 37 barrels per day (bpd) in July to 32 bpd in August. The water cut (the proportion of formation in total liquid produced by the well, fell one percentage point to 28%.

Wytch Farm

Monthly production at the UK’s biggest onshore field rose for the first time in since May 2021, up 3%. The Dorset field’s share of UK onshore production also rose from 83.41% in July 2021 to 83.96% in August 2021.

Welton

Welton, in Nottinghamshire, saw a small rise in actual production but its proportion of onshore production fell from 3.11% to 3.07%.

Singleton

The IGas field at Singleton in West Sussex saw production fall 8% from 1,628 tonnes in July 2021 to 1,492 tonnes in August. The field’s contribution to UK onshore production fell from 2.85% to 2.55%.

Humbly Grove

Production at the Humbly Grove field in Hampshire continued to rise for the third consecutive month, with a 45% increase on July 2021. Its contribution to UK onshore production also rose from 0.87% to 1.23%.

Top producers

Perenco Oil & Gas increased its share of UK onshore oil in August 2021, up from 84.77% in July 2021 to 85.11%. Most of the production was from Wytch Farm.

The contribution of the UK onshore’s second largest producer, IGas, fell almost one percentage point from 12.57% in July 2021 to 11.66% in August 2021. This was probably because of falls in production at its Stockbridge and Singleton sites.

EP UK Investments saw its share rise to 1.23%, up from 0.87%, with increased production from Humbly Grove.

The increase in production at Whisby in Lincolnshire pushed up the UK share from Britnrg Limited (formerly called Blackland Park Exploration). Its contribution to onshore UK production increased from 0.7% in July to 0.81% in August.

Falling production at Horse Hill cut the share of UK Oil & Gas plc, down from 0.65% to 0.57%

Europa Oil & Gas and Egdon Resources both saw increases in their contribution to total production. The figures do not include production from the Wressle site in North Lincolnshire, which is still formally in a test phase.

Non-producers

For the second month in a row, 13 onshore oil fields had no production. These included:

• Angus Energy sites at Brockham in Surrey and Lidsey in West Sussex
• Egdon Resources fields at Kirklington, Dukes Wood and Waddock Cross
• IGas fields at Avington, Egmanton, Nettleham, Scampton and South Leverton