All the new onshore oil and gas wells in the UK in 2024 were drilled on a single small island in Poole Harbour, according to official data analysed by DrillOrDrop.
Photo: Imagery (c) 2024 Google, Imagery (c) 2024 Airbus, Maxar Technologies, Map data (c) 2024
At the time of writing, the figures, from the North Sea Transition Authority’s public wellbore search, show just three onshore wells were spudded (started drilling) in 2024.
Source: Extract from NSTA Public Wellbore Search
According to the data, they were all drilled by Perenco on the same pad on Furzey Island, part of Wytch Farm in Dorset, classed as the UK’s largest onshore producing oil field.
No other UK onshore field or operator started drilling in 2024, according to the data.
This year’s onshore total number of wells was one more than in 2023, when the two sole wells were drilled by Perenco, also at Wytch Farm, this time on the M wellsite.
The last time a UK onshore well was drilled outside Dorset was in 2022, when Angus Energy drilled a sidetrack at Saltfleetby.
In 2024, 44 wells were drilled offshore in the UK. This number was also down on the total number of offshore wells (51) drilled in 2023.
Details
The three Furzy Island wells were spudded between 3 May 2024 and 21 July 2024.
The public wellbore search classed them as either horizontal or deviated wells. The depths varied between 1,219m and 2,412m. One of the wells is currently described as operating; the other two as drilling.
Furzey Island is in block SZ8a in licence PL89. Aerial photos indicate two well pads on the island. There are reportedly more than 20 wells on the island.
DrillOrDrop will continue to report on onshore drilling in the UK during 2025. Our article, What to watch in 2025, summarises some of the developments expected in the next 12 months. You can also catch up on the news from 2024 with our review of the past year.
Links to previous analysis of well drilling
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