Introduction
Tissa Jayasekera OBE (tissa.jayasekera@dti.gsi.gov.uk) is Manager of DTI’s ERDU-LED – Oil & Gas Maximising Recovery Programme (OG-MRP)
Welcome to the November 2005 issue of IOR Views. It is good to see a substantial number of quality articles once again in this issue. I would like to think this website does fill in a niche (amongst other related websites and newsletters that are currently running) where ideas on IOR R&D that are specific to the North Sea, but also of interest to a wider audience, can be openly discussed.
CO2 Capture and Storage with EOR is still a hot topic, with BP taking the lead in the UK with their Miller project. It is good to see BP and partners making a significant commitment and going onto to the engineering design phase. Someone needs to take such a bold step forward as the ‘window of opportunity’ for the large-scale take-up of this technology in the North Sea is somewhat narrow. No doubt there are many issues relating to the offshore usage of high pressure CO2, particularly on the safety and the materials side, to be tackled. So all eyes are on the Miller project.
Professor Kemp’s article ‘High Oil Prices and North Sea Oil Activity Levels’ highlights some interesting points on the likely consequences of the current high oil price on the industry as a whole.
DTI’s OG-MRP programme has objectives to identify UKCS hydrocarbon prospectivity and have them licensed and exploited in the most economical manner. Maximising recovery from existing developments is also a key objective. There is a component in the programme for participating in JIPs, provided of course that they are in line with the main objectives of OG-MRP. We have the industry advisory committee ACHARR to provide guidance on the strategy here. This year ten JIP proposals were approved (see also the ERDU-LED page). It is hoped that most of these will attract the required sponsorship and be up and running on full scope. Articles describing five of these are in this issue (Characterisation of Remobilised Deepwater Sandstone Reservoirs, Seismic and Production History Matching: A Multiple Model Approach, Outcrop Characterisation of Transgressive Sandstone Reservoirs, Improved Simulation of Fractured Reservoirs: Phase 2 –Upscaling and Field-Scale Demonstration, Fractured Reservoir 3D Digital Atlas “FR3DA”).
The DTI IOR Dissemination Seminar conducted jointly with DEVEX in 2005 was a resounding success. The event will be held on the same lines in 2006. The dates are 17 and 18 May and the venue will be the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. The advertisement can be seen in the SPE Review (November Issue).
Finally, I would like to say my farewell to the members IOR Views, as I will be retiring from DTI and moving to warmer climes early next year. I thank all of you who participated, by providing articles, the stimulating feedback, or just made regular visits that kept the website ‘buzzing’. A special thank you to David Hughes, our Editor, whose tireless efforts and total commitment was essential to its success. The challenges we faced in getting 11 issues of IOR Views out were indeed exhilarating and rewarding. I have really enjoyed my tenure running the OG-MRP programme (formerly SHARP) and overseeing IOR Views. My best wishes to all.