Extraction from the UK’s largest onshore gasfield rose 50% in May 2023, reaching record levels since the restart of production last year. Oil from the UK’s largest oilfield returned to levels before a pipe leak in March 2023.

Key figures

Daily production: Oil: 13,150 barrels per day (bopd). Gas: 9 standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d)

Volume: Oil: 64,808m3. Gas: 8,497 thousand cubic meters (ksm3)

Weight: Oil: 53,530 tonnes. Gas: 6,829 tonnes.

Onshore contribution to UK total production: 1.97% of oil and 1.01% of gas

Volume of flared gas at UK onshore oilfields: 1,233ksm3

Volume of vented gas at UK onshore oilfields: 129ksm3

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

• Daily oil production in May 2023 was up 113% on the month before
• The rate reached 13,150 bopd, up from 6,175 bopd in April 2023
• The increase was largely because of the recovery of production at the Wytch Farm field in Dorset, following a pipeline leak

• Daily gas production returned to 9mmscf/day after two months at 8mmscf

Volume and weight

• Oil volume and weight increased in line with the rise in daily production
• May 2023 recorded 64,808m3 and 53,530 tonnes, compared with 29,449m3 and 24,561 tonnes in April 2023

• Total onshore gas production rose by more than 25% in May 2023, compared with the month before
• This was largely because of increased production at the UK’s largest field at Saltfleetby in Lincolnshire

Contribution to UK production

• The contribution of onshore oil to the UK total returned to around 2% after a sharp fall in April 2023

• Onshore gas production increased its contribution to the UK total
• The onshore share rose above 1% (to 1.01%) for the first time since November 2022

Flaring and venting

• The monthly volume of flared gas from onshore oil fields remained above 1,200ksm for the second month this year
• The volume, at 1,233ksm, was up slightly from 1,198ksm in April 2023
• Vented gas also rose slightly between April (121ksm) and May (129ksm)

Top producing fields

Oil top 20

Ranking risers: Singleton, Horndean, Palmers Wood, Horse Hill and East Glentworth

Ranking fallers: Stockbridge, Long Clawson, Beckingham, Corringham, Kimmeridge and Storrington

Wytch Farm

• Wytch Farm’s volume in May 2023 was 228% higher than April 2023
• Volume was 49,568m3, compared with 15,128m3 in the previous month
• Daily production was more than 10,000 bopd, compared with 3,171 bopd in April  

Wressle

• Production at Wressle, in Lincolnshire was up slightly in May (3,837m3) compared with April (3,675m3)
• The site has produced more than 3,000m3 per month in all but one of the months since formal production began

Horse Hill

• Horse Hill, in Surrey, saw production rise 27% in May 2023, compared with the month before
• The volume of oil rose to 279m3, up from 219 in April 2023
• Daily production rose to 57 bopd, up from 46 bopd

Singleton

• May 2023 production at Singleton, in West Sussex, rose 35%, compared with the month before
• The volume of oil, 1,724m3, was just above average for the previous two years
• The volume of flared gas at the site rose by nearly a third to 573ksm, the second highest volume for two years

Palmers Wood

• Palmers Wood, in Surrey, saw production resume after a gap of two months
• Production in May 2023 (volume 327m3/weight 272 tonnes) was the highest recorded in the previous two years

Producing gas fields

Ranking risers: Bilsthorpe Colliery Mine Vent, Maltby Coal Mine Vent and Newmarket Colliery Mine Vent.

Ranking fallers: Albury, Wheldale Coal Mine Vent

• Saltfleetby, in Lincolnshire, saw production increase by nearly 2,000ksm, up 50%, in May 2023, compared with the month before. Volume was 5,992ksm, the highest since September 2022, when production restarted.

• Production fell by 35% at Albury in Surrey, down to 458ksm from 700ksm in April 2023. This was the lowest monthly production figure at the site since August 2020.

• For the second month, just nine of the 25 gas production fields extracted gas in May 2023. This was down from 14 in March 2023.

Non-producers

Oil

There was no production at 12 UK onshore oil fields in May 2023.

This was two fewer than in April 2023. Palmers Wood resumed production after a two-month break. Wareham also produced in May 2023 after no figures for April 2023.

The non-producing fields were:

• Angus Energy: Lidsey, Brockham
• Britnrg Limited: Newton-on-Trent
• Egdon Resources: Dukes Wood, Fiskerton Airfield, Kirklington, Waddock Cross
• Star Enery (formerly IGas): Avington, Egmanton, Nettleham, Scampton, South Leverton

Gas

There was no production reported at 15 UK onshore producing gas fields in May 2023.

Production resumed in May 2023 at Newmarket Colliery Mine Vent and Warsop Main Coal Mine Vent. There was no record for Third Energy’s gas sites at Kirby Misperton, Malton, Marishes and Pickering.

The non-producers were:

• Cuadrilla: Elswick
• Egdon Resources: Kirkleatham
• EP UK Investments: Humbly Grove Gas Storage
• Ineos: Airth, Doe Green
• Infinis Energy: coal mine vents at Askern, Bevercotes, Florence, Gedling, Kings Mill Hospital, Mansfield, Markham Main and Sherwood
• Scottish Power UK plc: Hatfield Moor, Hatfield Moor Gas Storage Injection

Operators

Oil

Perenco, the operator of Wytch Farm, Wareham and Kimmeridge, saw its production recover to 40,809 tonnes in May 2023, up from 12,572 tonnes in April 2023 following the pipeline leak. Perenco’s share of UK onshore oil production rose to 76%, up from 51% the month before.

Production at fields operated by Star Energy (formerly IGas) rose by 11% to 8,350 tonnes (up from 7,491 tonnes in April). But the company’s share of UK oil production halved, along with other operators following the recovery of production at Wytch Farm.

Gas

Increased production at Saltfleetby pushed Angus Energy’s share of onshore production up to 74%, compared with 63% in April 2023.

Infinis Energy, the operator of UK coal mine vents, saw production rise slightly but its contribution to UK onshore gas dropped to 17%, down from 20.5% in April 2023, because of increased extraction at Saltfleetby.

2022-3 onshore oil data archive

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

2022 annual production

November 2022

October 2022

September 2022

August 2022 – see note about revised data

July 2022 – see note about revised data

June 2022

May 2022

April 2022

March 2022

February 2022

January 2022