UK North Sea threatened by cost escalation
The oil price fall points a spotlight on the UK’s out-of-control operating costs
In 2009, Brent Blend crude was selling for an average price of $61.46 a barrel and the UK’s North Sea oil and gas were costing $13.20 a barrel of oil-equivalent (boe) to produce. Move forward six years and the Brent Blend price is much the same - but the operating cost has escalated to $30.53/boe, according to the producers’ and suppliers’ association, Oil & Gas UK (OGUK). "Inadequate stewardship coupled with an unstable fiscal regime and a steep production decline have made the UK continental shelf, on a unit of production basis, one of the least competitive places to operate in the world”, according to OGUK’s chief executive, Malcolm Webb. The organisation’s Activity Survey 2015, publ
Also in this section
19 January 2026
Newfound optimism is emerging that a dormant exploration frontier could become a strategic energy play and—whisper it quietly—Europe’s next offshore opportunity
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
