U.K. NORTH SEA GAS DESTINED FOR NETHERLANDS

Ultramar Exploration Ltd. has agreed in principle to the first export of British gas from the North Sea. The company agreed to sell gas reserves in the British part of the Anglo-Dutch Markham field in the U.K. southern basin, owned by Ultramar, DNO Offshore Ltd. and Ranger Oil (U.K.) Ltd. to Nederlandse Gasunie of Holland. Dutch reserves were also sold to Gasunie earlier this year.

Oct. 14, 1991

2 min read

Ultramar Exploration Ltd. has agreed in principle to the first export of British gas from the North Sea.

The company agreed to sell gas reserves in the British part of the Anglo-Dutch Markham field in the U.K. southern basin, owned by Ultramar, DNO Offshore Ltd. and Ranger Oil (U.K.) Ltd. to Nederlandse Gasunie of Holland. Dutch reserves were also sold to Gasunie earlier this year.

Last August, Elf U.K. Ltd. assigned its Markham interest to Ultramar, which has also taken over Elf's contract to sell its share of Markham reserves to Germany's Wintershall AG. Subject to signing of a treaty covering the field by the British and Dutch governments, production will start in October 1992.

Deliveries to Gasunie will reach 37.3 bcf/year. However, the 15 bcf/year due to Wintershall will not start until July 1993 because of onshore pipeline capacity constraints.

Markham gas will move through a 24 in. spur line to the Dutch offshore gas pipeline system to Den Helder.

The gas for Wintershall will move to Germany and at first fill storage at Rehden for later feed into Wintershall's Midal-Stegal pipeline system. Conversion of depleted Rehden gas field into a storage site began this month, aiming for operations start in July 1993.

Wintershall also has started work on the 186 mile Stegal line, a joint venture with the U.S.S.R.'s Gazprom, which initially will deliver Soviet gas from the Czechoslovakian border to Vitzeroda on the Hess-Thuringia state border.