据彭博社达卡9月11日消息称，石油业务大多从原油价格暴跌中恢复，但并不是所有人都在庆祝。
根据贸易集团石油与天然气公司（Oil＆Gas UK）的一份报告，英国北海今年有望获得自1973年以来勘探、评估和开发的最低水平。由于公司削减开支以应对油价下跌，钻井在去年和2016年间跌至四年来的低点。
随着更高效的油井和新项目提高了产量，40多年历史的北海在过去几年中获得了新生。但贸易集团表示，新钻探的放缓是一个“严重问题”，最终可能使该地区面临失去“ 2035年愿景 ”目标的危险，其中包括将老化盆地的生产寿命延长到下一代人。
英国石油与天然气公司上游政策主管Mike Tholen在接受电话采访时表示，“我们知道北海有100亿桶，可能有200亿桶油当量”。“如果我们不钻，我们就不会得到它。”
预计2018年，英国北海的勘探井数量不会超过12口，相比去年有所减少，开发井多达80口，与2017年持平。总投资估计约为60亿英镑（78亿美元） ，不到五年前水平的一半。
由于石油危机仍然记忆犹新，公司老板们正在严格控制开支。大型北海运营商荷兰皇家壳牌有限公司和英国石油公司正试图将盈亏平衡成本保持在每桶40美元左右，这是2014年之前批准的项目水平的一半。这限制了他们在一个相对昂贵的地区扩大钻探的能力。
但就目前而言，还有一些好消息。从北海获得一桶石油比2014年价格崩溃前便宜约30％。虽然新井数量减少，但它们的运营效率更高。自2015年以来产量稳步上升，预计今年产量将达到每天175万桶油当量，比2017年增加7％。
陈菲 摘译自 彭博社
原文如下：
U.K. North Sea Drilling at 40-Year Low, Risking Growth Goals
The oil business has mostly recovered from a worst-in-a-generation crude price slump, but
not everyone is celebrating.
The U.K. North Sea is on track this year to have the fewest exploration, appraisal and
development wells since 1973, according to a report from Oil & Gas UK, a trade group.
Drilling dropped to four-decade lows both last year and in 2016 as companies cut spending to
cope with falling oil prices.
The more than 40-year-old North Sea has got a new lease of life in the last few years as
more efficient wells and new projects boosted production. But the slowdown in new drilling
is a “serious concern,” and could end up putting the region in danger of missing its
“Vision 2035” goals, which include extending the productive life of the aging basin for
another generation, said the trade group.
“We know we have 10 billion, maybe 20 billion barrels” of oil equivalent left in the North
Sea, Mike Tholen, upstream policy director at Oil & Gas UK, said in a phone interview. “If
we don’t drill, we don’t get any of it.”
In 2018, the U.K. North Sea is expected to have no more than 12 exploration wells, fewer
than last year, and as many as 80 development wells, in line with 2017. Total investment is
estimated to be about 6 billion pounds ($7.8 billion), less than half of the level five
years ago.
With oil’s crash still fresh in their memories, company bosses are keeping a tight rein on
spending. Large North Sea operators Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are trying to keep
breakeven costs at about $40 a barrel, half the level for projects sanctioned prior to 2014.
That’s limiting their ability to expand drilling in a region that’s comparatively more
expensive.
But for now, there’s also some good news. It’s about 30 percent cheaper to get a barrel of
oil out of the North Sea than it was before the 2014 price crash. And though there are fewer
new wells, they are operating more efficiently. Production has been rising steadily since
2015 and output this year is expected to reach up to 1.75 million barrels of oil equivalent
a day, 7 percent higher than 2017.
