Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the economic potential of small pools of oil and gas for (a) Scotland and (b) the UK.

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) estimates that more than three billion barrels of oil equivalent remain in approximately 350 undeveloped marginal discoveries across the UK Continental Shelf and could provide considerable economic benefit to both Scotland and the UK.

Many of these discoveries are ‘small pools’ of oil and gas so far uneconomical to develop and Government recognises that innovative solutions will be required to help unlock the potential and maximise economic recovery.

Government has co-funded a £250 million Aberdeen City Region Deal, jointly with Scottish Government, which included a UK contribution of £90m over 10 years for the Oil and Gas Technology Centre. The Oil and Gas Technology Centre in partnership with the OGA is taking forward work on technological solutions such as an optimised subsea infrastructure that could have an important role to play in reducing the cost of developing small pools.