§ Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of (a) United Kingdom oil reserves offshore and (b) United Kingdom oil reserves inshore; what percentages of these totals are reckoned to be economically recoverable; and whether any oil reserves previously regarded as economically or practically irrecoverable have subsequently been recovered.
§ Mr. GrayThe remaining recoverable reserves on the UKCS are currently estimated to lie in the range 2,050 million to 4,250 million tonnes, of which about 30 million to 75 million tonnes are attributable to onshore discoveries.
Currently recoveries of oil from oil fields on the UKCS normally lies in the range 25–50 per cent. of the initial oil in place and the recoverable reserves quoted above are based on in place quantities of oil which are about three times as large.
Production from United Kingdom oil fields is still in its early stages and all oil produced to date can be attributed to reserves that have been considered as recoverable since the completion of the original field appraisals.
437WThese figures do not reflect any potential that may exist for using enhanced oil recovery techniques.