The number of UK offshore fields set to get the go-ahead in 2018 alone represents a burst of 225% over the past two years combined, according to independent analyst Rystad Energy this week.

The rise is higher, at 347%, in terms of the barrels of oil equivalent (boe), as UK activity this year is aimed at 550 million boe of reserves, as opposed 123 million boe over the past two years.

“The trend is unambiguous,” Rystad analyst Readul Islam said. “The UK industry has reason to smile after a couple gloomy years.”

Offshore service companies — such as drillers, subsea players and shipowners — are likely to see their employers pull the trigger on the final investment decisions (FIDs) for about 13 offshore fields for the UK continental shelf (UKCS), although this number could rise.

Only four UKCS fields received FIDs in 2016 and 2017 in the midst of the severe offshore downturn.

The 2018 list of 13 FIDS, some already announced and some expected, could expand even further if some approval candidates for 2019 are triggered earlier than planned, Islam indicated.

The forecast projects this year also make up a variety development solutions that spell opportunity for an array of services providers.

“Floaters, subsea tiebacks and platforms to serve projects large and small mean there will be something for everyone,” Islam said.

Last week, Shell revealed the FID for the 100-million-boe Penguins redevelopment project, which will use an upgraded floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

The FPSO will be Shell’s first manned installation in the northern North Sea in 30 years. It says the Penguins project will break even at an oil price below $40 per barrel.

Another example is Decipher Energy’s Orlando field, which is using contractor Diamond Offshore Drilling to drill a development well this year.

Alpha Petroleum has chosen to modify Teekay Offshore’s 214-metre FPSO Petrojarl Varg (built 1998) for the Cheviot field development.

Independent Oil & Gas is looking to use a series of platforms at UKCS gas fields, while Nexen and CNOOC are planning the next phase at the huge Buzzard field.

Some FIDs may see changes.

“BP, for instance, is expected to start up its Clair Ridge field early this year — but after kicking off such a large scheme, the company might not be in a hurry to move ahead with the extension project called Clair South, even though the latter has government consent to proceed,” the analyst said.

The offshore sector saw a raft of delayed projects during the downturn. Among the list of 13 FIDs expected for the UKCS this year, only two — Buzzard Phase 2 and Orlando — are projects that had been delayed previously.

Islam called this an “encouraging sign”.