DrillOrDrop’s review of the latest UK onshore oil data for October 2022: the monthly volume of flared gas was the highest reported since records began six years ago
Key figures
Daily production: barrels per day (bopd): 14,190
Weight: 57659 tonnes
Volume: 69,933m3
Volume of onshore as a proportion of UK total oil production: 1.9%
Volume of flared gas at UK onshore oilfields: 1,308 ksm3
Volume of vented gas at UK onshore oilfields: 115 ksm3
The data in this post was compiled and published by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) from reports by oil companies. This is published about three months in arrears. All the charts are based on the NSTA data.
Details
Daily production
- October 2022 saw the second consecutive monthly fall in daily production
- But October 2022 recorded the fourth highest daily figure in the previous year
- It was also up slightly on the same time a year earlier (14,190 bopd, compared with 14,064 bopd in October 2021)
Volume and weight
- October 2022 was up on both measures on the previous (shorter) month
- Volume and weight were also higher in October 2022 than the same time a year before
- But they were lower than both August 2022 and December 2021
Contribution to UK oil production volume
- October 2022 saw the onshore contribution to UK total oil production fall below 2%, despite the new contribution of the Wressle field in North Lincolnshire
- This followed two months when the onshore contribution was comfortably above 2%
Flaring and venting
- The volume of flared gas, at 1,308 ksm3, was the highest level reported since records began in October 2016
- October 2022’s volume of flared gas was up 63% on September 2022 (801 ksm3)
- This was largely a result of increased flaring at the IGas site at Singleton in West Sussex
- Vented gas rose by 5%, up from 110 ksm3 to 115 ksm3
Top 20 fields
- The top six oil fields onshore in the UK maintained their places compared with September 2022
- In the top 10, all but Wytch Farm and Scampton North increased their monthly production (in tonnes)
- Other fields which reported falling production in October 2022, compared with September 2022, included Cold Hanworth, Horse Hill, Palmers Wood and Storrington
- Production resumed at Keddington, up at 127 tonnes in October 2022
- Brockham appeared to halve production in October after four months of records between June and September 2022
Wressle
- The newest production field in the UK onshore reported stable production between August and October 2022
- The site retained its second position in the top 20 rankings and stayed above 5% of UK onshore oil production
- Daily production, volume and weight at Wressle were all highest in the first formal month of production (July 2022)
Wytch Farm
- The UK’s biggest onshore oil producer dropped two percentage points in its contribution to total onshore production (79.42% in September to 77.43% in October 2022)
- The weight of oil produced at the field fell slightly (0.14%) from 44,706 tonnes in September to 44,642 in October 2022
- Daily oil production was down 3.36%, from 11,451 bopd in September to 11,066 bopd in October 2022
Singleton
- This IGas site in West Sussex saw a 71% increase in the volume of flared gas in October, compared with September 2022
- The volume of oil produced at the site rose 23% between the two months
Horse Hill
- All measures of oil production at the UKOG site at Horse Hill in Surrey fell in October, compared with September 2022
- Daily production was down from 55 bopd to 48 bopd. Oil volume fell to 237m3 (from 266m3) and weight was down from 225 tonnes in September to 200.5 tonnes in October
- The volume of water produced at the site was down from 185m3 in September to 135m3 in October 2022
Whisby
The BritNRG site at Whisby in Lincolnshire reported at 75% increase in production, up from 262m3 in September to 460m3 in October. Daily production was up from 54.9bopd to 93.3bopd.
Increased oil production was also accompanied by a large rise in produced water, up from 262m3 in September to 1,427m3 in October.
Non-producers
There was no production at 12 UK onshore fields.
Egdon Resources’ Keddington site in Lincolnshire left this list, while Angus Energy’s Brockham site in Surrey rejoined:
- Angus Energy: Lidsey and Brockham
- Britnrg Limited: Newton-on-Trent
- Egdon Resources: Dukes Wood, Fiskerton Airfield, Kirklington, Waddock Cross
- IGas: Avington, Egmanton, Nettleham, Scampton, South Leverton
Operators
IGas plc increased its total monthly production by nearly 13% in October 2022. It was back above 7,000 tonnes after a fall to 6,565 tonnes in September. The company’s contribution to UK onshore oil production rose to 12.84%, up from 11.66% in September 2022.
Egdon Resources held its third place in the operators’ table for onshore oil. It reported total weight of oil up to 3,053 tonnes, from the Wressle and Keddington sites. The company increased its contribution to UK onshore oil to 5.29%, up from 5.02% in September 2022.
Perenco increased its total production to 45,309 tonnes, up from 45,179 tonnes in September. But the company’s share of UK onshore production fell in October to below 80%. 98.5% of the oil produced by Perenco comes from Wytch Farm.
Britnrg Limited reported a 75% increase of oil produced in October, compared with the month before This followed the rise in production at the company’s Whisby site.
UK Oil & Gas plc fell from fifth place in the operators’ table in September to sixth in October. The company’s contribution to UK onshore oil dropped to 0.35% with falling production from Horse Hill.
Europa Oil and Gas oil production fell 15% in October 2022, compared with September, down to 142 tonnes.
Angus Energy left the operators’ table in October, with no reported production from Brockham.
2022 onshore oil data archive
August 2022 – see note about revised data
July 2022 – see note about revised data
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