DrillOrDrop’s review of the latest UK onshore oil data for November 2022 reveals the third consecutive monthly fall in daily production, halving output at Wressle and another record high for onshore flaring
Key figures
Daily production: 14,053 barrels per day (bopd)
Weight: 55,274 tonnes
Volume: 67,027m3
Volume of onshore as a proportion of UK total oil production: 1.8%
Volume of flared gas at UK onshore oilfields: 1,496 ksm3
Volume of vented gas at UK onshore oilfields: 82 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
- November 2022 saw the third consecutive fall in daily production
- Bopd was the sixth lowest in the previous 13 months
- Daily production in November 2022 was just below (-0.7%) that of November 2021
Volume and weight
- Volume and weight of oil produced in November 2022 was more than 4% down on October 2022
- This is more than would have been expected because of the shorter month
- This could be explained by production falls at the top four fields, particularly Wressle, which saw output halve
- In the past 12 months, only four have produced lower volume and weight
- On both measures, production was about 1% below the average for the past 13 months
Contribution to UK oil production volume
- November 2022 saw the second consecutive monthly fall in onshore contribution to total UK oil production
- The onshore share was back below 2% after two months above this level in August and September 2022
- The proportion of onshore oil in November 2022 was higher than seven of the previous 12 months
Flaring and venting
- Flared gas volumes in November 2022 were the highest since records began in October 2016
- This was the third consecutive monthly increase, reaching nearly 1,500 ksm3
- The recent review of the government’s net zero strategy called for a ban on non-emergency flaring on oil and gas fields by 2025
- November 2022’s volume of vented gas was the lowest since May 2020
- It was down 29% on October 2022
- This was probably because Perenco’s Kimmeridge site in Dorset, which routinely vented gas, recorded no volume for venting in November 2022
Top 20 fields
- Production was down in November 2022 at 14 of the fields in the top 20 compared with October 2022
- The leading fields that saw lower production included Wytch Farm, Wressle, Welton, Humbly Grove, Horndean and Whisby
- Output rose at five fields: Singleton, Stockbridge, Wareham, Scampton North and Palmers Wood
Wressle
- This field in North Lincolnshire – the UK’s newest onshore oil producer – saw production more than halve in November 2022, compared with the month before.
- Oil volume fell from 3,524m3 to 1,724m3 in the space of month to the lowest level since production began officially in July 2022.
- Daily oil production was almost half the level in October 2022, dropping from 715bopd to 361bopd
- The site fell from second place in the top 20 table to fourth
Wytch Farm
- In November 2022, oil production had fallen for three consecutive month at Wytch Farm, the UK’s biggest onshore oil producer.
- The volume of oil in November 2022 was 6% down on the level a year earlier and 2% down on October 2022
Singleton
- This site in West Sussex saw a 56% increase in the volume of flared gas, up from 674ksm3 to 1,054ksm3
- This is the third consecutive monthly rise in flared gas volumes at the site and a record since the data was first collected in October 2016
- Oil production volumes increased by 11% between October and November 2022 (up from 1,743m3 to 1,935m3).
- This is the highest volume recorded at Singleton since November 2021
- Singleton rose in the table from fourth place to second
Horse Hill
- This Surrey oil site, once nicknamed the Gatwick Gusher, dropped another place in the top 20 in November.
- Production at the site peaked in its second month of formal production, in April 2020 (243bopd).
- In November 2022, it was down 79% on the peak to 49 bopd.
- Daily production was up 1 barrel on October 2022 but volume has fallen for three consecutive months
Other fields
Non-producers
There was no production at 12 UK onshore fields:
- 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
Perenco, operator of Wytch Farm, Kimmeridge and Wareham, saw production in tonnes fall about 2% between October 2022 and November 2022. But its share of UK onshore oil production rose back above 80% from 78.5% the month before.
IGas stayed above 7,000 tonnes for the second consecutive month and increased its share of onshore production from 12.8% in October 2022 to just above 14% in November.
Egdon Resources held its third place in the table, despite the fall in production at Wressle. Its share of UK onshore production was down to 2.7%, compared with 5.29% in October 2022.
EP UK Investments, operator of the Humbly Grove site in Hampshire, saw production fall from 1,138 tonnes in October 2022 to 888 tonnes in November, a drop of more than 20%.
Angus Energy remained out of the table, with no reported production at its Brockham site in Surrey for the second consecutive month.
Production from Britnrg Limited, UK Oil & Gas plc, Europa Oil and Gas, and Onshore Oilfield Services Limited remained fairly steady.
2022 onshore oil data archive
August 2022 – see note about revised data
July 2022 – see note about revised data
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