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These conditions paired with the remoteness of the area have also meant that the region is relatively unexplored, despite its potential for the oil and gas sector. According to BPs estimations currently there is at least 640mn bl of oil in recoverable resources.

GlobalData upstream oil and gas analyst Daniel Rogers says: The WoS basin in comparison to the North Sea basins has been relatively under-explored. The extreme water depths, challenging subsurface, and lack of knowledge and experience in the basin lead to higher risk than the North Sea exploration. That being said, there is currently vast acreage open to explorers and yet-to-find volumes are significant.

Drilling in the area particularly peaked after the Geological Society published a study positioning the WoS area as the largest remaining exploration site with potential forsignificantnew finds, by virtue of its relative exploration immaturity.

Although the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) considered the Central North Sea as the largest yet-to-find potential on the UK Continental Shelf, new research from Global Data found that for the last four years oil and gas production in the WoS has risen and it will overtake North Sea as future-major producing basin in UK.

The report showed that North Sea operations owned by BP and Shell, the UKs biggest oil and gas producers, saw significantly decreased production, especially in comparison to their interest in the WoS. BPs production in North Sea has fallen from about 100,100 barrels of equivalent per day (boed) in 2017 to about 40,000 boed in 2018, making the companys production in North Sea significantly lower than its WoS explorations. Shells exploration in the North Sea, has also declined from around 90,000 boed in 2018 to approximately 75, 000 boed in 2019 and it shows a tendency for Shells North Sea operations to notably drop below its WoS drilling from 2020 to 2022.

Furthermore, of the successful 30th UK Offshore Licensing Round in 2017, approximately 75% of the licensed WoS blocks involved European major participation. European majors have stakes in 80% of the planned and announced projects in the area compared to approximately 40% in the North Sea.

Overall, the report concludes that theWoS area retains the attention of major Exploration and Production operators in the region; however its infrastructure difficulties can impede the future growth potential in the basin.

Rogers concludes: There remains significant value to be captured within the North Sea particularly through near field exploration and marginal field developments, however, the West of Shetlands remains more attractive for operators willing to take higher exploration risks necessary to discover fields large enough to compete for capital within highly competitive global portfolios.

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A closer look at the West of Shetland's offshore potential - Offshore Technology