Oil and gas are the most important natural resources to be discovered in the UK this century. They provide energy and essential chemicals for our transport, industry, and homes, as well as earning valuable tax and export revenues to support the UK economy.
The occurrence of vast amounts of oil and gas, in particular, beneath the North Sea and the Irish Sea is a result of a remarkable set of geologic circumstances involving the deposition and maturing of an oil rich source rock, the timely migration of oil and gas into porous reservoir rocks and their containment in these reservoirs in structures beneath impermeable seals. These elements have resulted in the occurrence of diverse, major oil and gas provinces around the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) that provide a challenging theatre for companies to explore for hydrocarbons.
The subsequent development of the hydrocarbon discoveries, principally the North Sea and to a lesser extent West of Britain depend on bold construction initiatives undertaken in a difficult and hazardous environment. Their great economic importance provided the incentive to overcome the difficulties and dangers and has inspired enormous advances in science and technology of offshore exploration and production. The operating companies have taken huge financial risks to meet the great costs of offshore development, and thousands of workers daily endure the perils of the offshore UK to produce our essential oil and gas.
Petroleum has been produced in small quantities on the UK mainland for centuries. The first commercial discovery was made in 1918 in Nottinghamshire, Central England. Half a century later in 1973 Wytch Farm, Dorset was the first major onshore oil field discovery and is now the largest onshore field in Western Europe. In 1965, the first significant discovery was of offshore gas in the West Sole Field located in the Southern Basin. Two years later, in 1967, the first oil was found in the Arbroath Field. Today there are a record number of 204 offshore fields in production which includes 109 oil fields and 79 gas and 16 condensate fields in production offshore. Many of the Fields have been developed using highly advanced engineering techniques that had not been dreamt of only twenty years ago.
Despite the longevity of the United Kingdom and its continental shelf as a petroleum province, there is still considerable potential of further activity in both the mature and frontier areas. To date, a total of some 2,306 million tonnes of oil and 1,311 bcm (billion cubic metres) of gas has been produced from UK fields. Today new technology is employed to reduce the cost of finding and producing oil and gas, to give the fields a longer productive life. As a result of these efforts Britain’s oil and gas will continue to reach new heights in the next few years. More Information on the exploration of the UKCS can be found in Chapter 5.
Title
| Table of Contents
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter
5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9
Appendix 1 | Appendix 2 | Appendix 3 | Appendix 4 | Appendix
5 | Appendix 6 | Appendix 7 | Appendix 8 | Appendix 9
Appendix 10 | Appendix 11 | Appendix 12 |
Appendix 13 | Appendix 14 | Appendix 15 |
Appendix 16 | Appendix 17
Index Map | Plate 1 |
Plate 2W | Plate 2E | Plate 3W | Plate 3E | Plate
4W | Plate 4E | Plate 5W | Plate 5E | Plate 6
Plate 7 | Plate
8W | Plate 8E | Plate 9W | Plate 9E | Plate 10W | Plate
10E | Plate 11 | Plate 12 | Legend
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