Wells Insights Report

The NSTA's latest Wells Insights Report, published in October 2025, encourages operators to maintain wells in optimal condition to support continued production and strengthen the wider supply chain.

The report offers a comprehensive overview of UKCS well stock and activity, providing valuable insights into trends and performance across the basin.

Well interventions play a critical role in extending the life of producing assets. By slowing natural production decline and enhancing efficiency, interventions can deliver substantial returns while offering a more sustainable alternative to drilling new wells. They are typically faster, more cost-effective, and result in fewer emissions.

Beyond production benefits, consistent intervention activity also supports the supply chain by ensuring that key equipment and expertise remain in the North Sea. This continuity helps retain a skilled workforce whose transferable capabilities are essential for advancing the UK’s energy transition.

Despite these advantages, well interventions across the UKCS declined from 443 in 2023 to 425 in 2024, continuing a gradual downward trend.

However, the interventions that were carried out demonstrated strong results, delivering 37.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in 2024, equivalent to 34 days of average UK production. Efficiency also improved, as intervention costs fell from £11 per barrel in 2023 to £9.60 in 2024, while the average Brent crude price was £63.10 per boe, highlighting healthy profit margins for such activity.

The NSTA’s operational wells team conducted an in-depth review of shut-in and plugged wells, collaborating closely with operators to identify approximately 200 wells with potential for reactivation. In November 2024, the NSTA hosted a workshop with operators and supply chain partners to explore practical solutions for bringing these wells back online. Within just one year, 56 wells had been successfully intervened, contributing more than 8 million boe of production over 12 months. The NSTA’s wells team is now engaging with additional operators to replicate this success and further unlock value from existing assets.

Click on this link for access to the Well Insight Report.

Key findings

• Well interventions contributed over a month’s worth of production in 2024, despite reduced activity levels.
• Operators are encouraged to collaborate with the supply chain to unlock cost-efficient production opportunities.
• The NSTA also urges the industry to prioritise development drilling campaigns within existing fields.