Relatively bright future for the North Sea

The basin may never recapture its glory days, but 2021 should still see players extracting significant value

The UK North Sea continues to be a question of relatives versus absolutes. It is well known that oil and gas production has declined since the highs seen around 2000, but overall growth has not been the focus in the region for years. What we are seeing more and more are companies making the most of what there already is in this material global producing basin, through existing fields and infrastructure being kept in production via efficiencies and tie-backs, near-field exploration to help facilitate this, and ownership changes to see the right assets increasingly in the right hands. While 2020 has been a challenging year for operators, it has not altered the impact of these themes, although