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51 comments on The architecture of UK offshore oil production in relation to future production models

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plucky underdog on November 26, 2006 - 11:53pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Wasn't there an explosion on Brent in the late 1980s that shut most of the field down for over a year and took more than a Piper's worth of production offline? You can see it very clearly in the Brent skin on Figure 1. Bad luck it happened when it did, but it made the 1990s dip much sharper and deeper. And the tightening up of safety regs post-Piper probably delayed the return to service of the affected platforms, as it delayed so much else in the UKCS.
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Euan Mearns on November 27, 2006 - 6:47am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Plucky, you may be right.  I'd certainly noticed the big dip in Brent production.  I thought the DTI had told me that was due to installation of sub sea well control valves.  Its something that is worth checking out.
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plucky underdog on November 27, 2006 - 10:42pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I haven't found anything definite yet on what caused that exact dip, but here is a fascinating database of ofshore incidents and accidents, mostly (but not exclusively) from the North Sea:

http://oilrigwork.netfirms.com/Accidents.htm

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