Over three billion barrels of oil remains untapped underneath the UK continental shelf in the North Sea, according to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

New research by the organisation suggests approximately 350 'small pools' represent a "very significant opportunity" for the industry. However it added new technologies may be required to access these unsanctioned discoveries.

Carlo Procaccini, OGA Head of Technology, said 'small pool's' could help "maximise economic recovery from the UKCS".

"Technology has an important role to play to reduce the cost of development wells, design optimised subsea infrastructure to existing host facilities and develop efficient standalone concepts," he said.

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"We are committed to working together with the industry, the TLB and the new Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) which has dedicated one of their Solution Centres to unlock the small pools potential."

The research follows a series of events hosted by the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) dedicated towards creating new ideas, technologies and efficiency measures to help unlock the 'small pools'.

Dr Gordon Drummond, project director of NSRI, said: "Small pools have a national importance in terms of achieving MER and they must be considered as an industry asset if they are to be capitalised upon.

"Following an extensive mapping exercise, we now know exactly where these small pools are located and what is required to unlock their potential. If the subsea industry can rise to the challenge of economically tapping into these pools, the North Sea could have a whole new lease of life.

"Technology is only part of the solution, the industry must be much more receptive to innovation – there must be a willingness to work more collaboratively on multi-field applications and on access to infrastructure."

(LM/MH)