Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: United Kingdom
| Location: | Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France |
| Climate: | temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast |
| Terrain: | mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast |
| Size: | 244820 sq. km total (Land area: 241590 sq. km Water area: 3230 sq.km) |
| Population: | 60,943,912 (July 2008 est.) |
| Languages: | English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) |
| Government: | constitutional monarchy |
| Capital city: | London |
| Legal system: | based on common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| Currency: | British pound (GBP) |
| Licensing: |
Country profile
The United Kingdom (UK) is an important political and economic power in Europe and the world. It has the second-largest economy in the European Union (EU) with a nominal 2005 gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.2 trillion. The UK economy grew by 1.8 percent in 2005, with growth of 2.2 percent forecasted for 2006. While the UK has been a member of the EU since 1973, it does not participate in the European single currency, the Euro. The UK is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the EU.
However, after years of being a net exporter of both fuels, the UK became a net importer of natural gas in 2004. Government estimates also predict that the country will become a net importer of oil by the end of the decade. Production from UK oil and natural gas fields peaked in the late 1990s and has declined steadily over the past several years, as the discovery of new reserves has not kept pace with the maturation of existing fields. In response, the government has begun a three-pronged approach to address the predicted domestic shortfalls: 1) increasing domestic production through efficiency gains and the exploitation of marginal fields; 2) establishing necessary import infrastructure, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals and transnational pipelines; and 3) investing in energy conservation and renewables.
Energy production and consumption
| Oil | Gas | |
| Production: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 84 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Consumption: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 91 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Exports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 8 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Imports: | 1 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 15 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
| Reserves: | 4 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 509 |
| Major fields: |
United Kingdom - recent news
| 22 Oct 20 |
UK: CGG continues to power UK sites with green energy CGG has extended its commitment to green energy by renewing and expanding its contract to power all its operating sites in the UK with renewable energy. As an early adopter of renewable energy sources for its UK operations eight years ago, CGG has evaluated the green credentials of its suppliers and recommitted to a REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees Origin) backed contract to ensure that all electricity used is generated from renewable wind sources. |
| 22 Oct 20 |
UK: Archer announces two-year contract extension for platform drilling and maintenance services in the UK North Sea Archer has secured a two-year contract extension with a major North Sea operator for the provision of platform drilling operations and maintenance services on seven UK North Sea installations. |
| 21 Oct 20 |
UK/Norway: Suncor considering sale of North Sea oil and gas fields Canada’s Suncor Energy is reported to be considering the sale of oil and gas fields in the North Sea, including the 30,000-barrel-a-day Golden Eagle Area on the UKCS. |
| 19 Oct 20 |
UK: Natural Power appointed for construction phase at Vattenfall’s South Kyle wind farm development Natural Power has been appointed by Vattenfall to undertake services during the construction phase at the 240MW, 50-turbine South Kyle wind farm in East Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. |
| 16 Oct 20 |
UK: Reserve revisions on the UKCS doom hydrocarbon output never to rise above 2 million boepd again - Rystad Energy Promising exploration results by Hurricane Energy in fractured basement reservoirs, previously untapped in the UK, were until earlier this year expected to revive the country’s output to 2.1 million boepd by 2035, according to Rystad Energy’s estimates. Now those hopes have been dashed. |
United Kingdom - more news
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