Offshore exploration and new field developments in UK and Norwegian waters offer a combined visible drilling potential of up to 386 wells (UK: 177; Norway: 209) by 2023 to exploit more than 3 billion boe in estimated recoverable resources. In the UK, continued efforts to cut costs have seen confidence in the UK offshore industry begin to return.  The renewed interest was helped by the OGA making available extensive seismic data to operators during 2016. This sparked considerable interest among smaller independent operators as well as integrated oil majors. Apart from these exploration activities, nine major projects are due online by 2019 whilst four recent start-ups are continuing to ramp up to full production. However, continued investment will be required to prevent a potentially significant production decline from 2020. Meanwhile, offshore activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is continuing to recover. Spurred by recent exploration successes and a significant improvement in oil prices since January 2016, activity is likely to remain steady through 2017 with an ongoing push in exploration and appraisal drilling. We also expect see more Norwegian projects progressing to their planning and development phases, whilst a roster of new field developments are expected to begin production between 2019 and 2021. Download Abstract & Contents