A new era for the offshore oil and gas industry on the UKCS

This paper explores the development of the offshore oil and gas industry on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) and particularly the role play ed by science and technology in that development. An historical perspective is taken in the first instance to place recent developments in context, be fore exploring the role of science and technology in the 1990s. Three areas of key importance form the basis of the discussion: the maintenance of pro duction from the traditional provinces, the development of new provinces an d the mitigation of environmental impacts. The paper demonstrates the cruci al role that science and technology plays in each of these areas. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.