SIX MORE FIELDS GO ON PRODUCTION IN U.K. NORTH SEA

One new oil field and five new gas developments have gone on stream in the U.K. North Sea this fall. The four gas fields, ARCO British Ltd.'s Welland field, Shell-Esso's Barque and Clipper fields, BP Exploration's Amethyst field, and Hamilton Bros. Oil & Gas's North Ravenspurn are in the southern basin of the sea. They faced a contractual requirement to begin deliveries to British Gas plc this month. The single oil field is Shell-Esso's Kittiwake in Block 21/18, 100 miles

Oct. 15, 1990

3 min read

One new oil field and five new gas developments have gone on stream in the U.K. North Sea this fall.

The four gas fields, ARCO British Ltd.'s Welland field, Shell-Esso's Barque and Clipper fields, BP Exploration's Amethyst field, and Hamilton Bros. Oil & Gas's North Ravenspurn are in the southern basin of the sea. They faced a contractual requirement to begin deliveries to British Gas plc this month.

The single oil field is Shell-Esso's Kittiwake in Block 21/18, 100 miles east of Aberdeen, which started production 5 months ahead of its original schedule.

Flow from the platform, linked to a tanker loading system, is to rise to a peak of 36,000 b/d during a 2 year drilling program.

The field, with reserves of 70 million bbl, was developed at a cost of 250 million ($475 million).

Shell-Esso's Barque and Clipper fields lie in the Sole Pit area of the southern basin. The three platform development program covering both fields cost 420 million ($798 million).

Initial production through a 46 mile, 24 in. pipeline to Bacton terminal on the east coast of England is about 130 MMcfd.

ARCO's Welland field is the only gas development among the five new gas fields in which 10% of reserves have been sold to buyers other than British Gas plc. AGAS Ltd. and the gas marketing operations of BP Exploration and Mobil North Sea will sell 10% of Welland gas on the U.K. industrial market.

The 240 billion cu ft of reserves will produce at a plateau rate of 100 MMcfd.

ARCO said for the first time in the U.K. North Sea, production flows through an unmanned satellite platform that combines platform and multiple subsea wells with total automation into a single project. Field control will be from ARCO's Thames complex 11 miles away.

Hamilton Bros.' North Ravenspurn development is another technical first. The company used the first shallow water concrete gravity base in the southern basin for the 1.3 tcf development.

The field, in Blocks 43/26a and 42/30, will produce an average 290 MMcfd through a 24 in. pipeline link into BP's Cleeton gas field, which has a 36 in. pipeline to Dimlington terminal on the east coast of England.

BP's Amethyst field has two platforms remotely controlled from Easington terminal. The two units will produce an average 150 MMcfd. Two more remote controlled platforms are to be installed in May 1991.