UK North Sea oil, gas drilling halves - Deloitte - Reuters

LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - Oil and gas drilling operationsin the UK Continental Shelf have more than halved in the lastyear, industry figures from business advisory group Deloitteshowed on Thursday.

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Deloitte's North West Europe Review, which summarisesdrilling and licensing in the region, said only 15 explorationand appraisal wells were started in the UK between the beginningof April and the end of June, down 57 percent year-on-year and a17 percent fall from the first quarter of this year. Of the new wells, most were in the Moray Firth and West ofShetland, where fewer than 10 percent of UK wells are situated.A further 20 percent were in the central North Sea, 20 percentin the East Irish Sea, with the Southern North Sea falling to 6percent.

Full Story: UK North Sea oil, gas drilling halves - Deloitte - Reuters