President’s Page- Chris Flavell

As predicted, 2006 is off to a frenetic start from the operations point of view. Even a mid-sized independent such as my company has got 4 drilling operations currently ongoing, and the hunt for rigs for further exploration and development drilling throughout the year continues. Of course, the requirement for quality staff remains a key factor for the industry, and it ‘s interesting to see that the February Newsletter had job advertisements from no fewer than 12 companies, seeking to fill positions in virtually every technical facet of our industry.
At the last UKOOA Exploration meeting held in UKOOA’s shiny new Aberdeen offices, (here was an interesting presentation summarising the most recent industry activity survey. A total of 78 exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in 2005, with a forecast 106 such wells, mostly exploration, for 2006. It seems that not even the best endeavours of the Chancellor can dampen the current enthusiasm for the sector. Also interesting, and I thought slightly surprising given the increase in the number of higher risk prospects drilled , was the success rate. It was stated that 37% of exploration wells discovered potentially commercial hydrocarbons. As this was a UKOOA members survey only, it is likely that much of the higher risk drilling activity was undertaken by non-UKOOA members, including new entrant companies drilling on promote licence acreage.
Whilst on the subject of acreage and licensing, we will shortly be embarking on the next UK licensing round , with the OTI likely to announce the 24th Round in March. With the current
unprecedented levels of activity and interest in the UK sector, I’m sure that this will be yet another successful Round for the OTI, undoubtedly seeing the emergence of many more new entrants and promoters. Again through the auspices of UKOOA, Jim Munns and I have been participating in a small task force with UKOOA and the OTI to strive to make licence round applications more streamlined, and generally less onerous to applicants in terms of paperwork. This is not the place to discuss the many potential initiatives that have been discussed, although we are confident that the entire process will be improved. It is unlikely that any new initiatives will be implemented in time for the coming round other than the move to purely digital applications.
Finally, a plug for the forthcoming OEVEX conference in Aberdeen on 17-18 May, of which PESGB is a co-sponsor. This will only be the 3rd OEVEX, but based on the outcome of the previous conferences , this is sure to be an excellent event which is very worth while attending And what a weekend of sport just gone!! Re-arrange these strange occurrences in order of greatest surprise:
• Scotland beats France
• England fails to under-achieve
• Wolves goalie drops the ball at the feet of Leicester’s centre forward
• Hole in one by the President (Yes, honestly!!!)