In April we learned the UK’s latest oil discovery had taken place in a rather unlikely location. Signs in the South Downs around Gatwick Airport immediately spurred hopes for millions of barrels at the site.
And in the past week an independent report commissioned by UK Oil & Gas said there are, indeed, 11 billion barrels of oil in the 55 square miles of the two Horse Hill licences.
It’s not the first time the UK has struck black gold, but it is the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean that have been the traditional hosts for such discoveries.
Here, we look at three oil and gas fields that have shaped and continue to steer the way the UK gas and oil industry works – and examine the jobs they support.
Culzean
Only in the past few days has the UK Oil and Gas Authority approved a £3 billion investment programme in this, the biggest North Sea gas field to be found in the past decade.
It’s hope Culzean could produce enough gas to meet up to 5% of the UK’s entire needs.
Maersk, the Danish energy company, is to develop the field – in the process creating more than 400 jobs and supporting an estimated 6,000 more positions in the UK.
The “high pressure, high temperature” (HPHT) development is expected to start producing gas in 2019 and last for at least 13 years.
Forties
The Forties is the largest oil field in the North Sea at 90 kilometres squared. Discovered in 1970, it first began producing oil in 1975 under the guidance of the then British Petroleum (BP).
Located 110 miles east of Aberdeen, this was the first major discovery in the United Kingdom’s sector of the North Sea, with oil only previously being found in the Norwegian Ekofisk field.
The Forties kickstarted the 1975 rush and its importance has seen the field rise to be a status symbol of the North Sea oil market.
Production peaked in 1979 at 500,000 barrels a day, smashing all early predictions. The location of the site and roughness of the sea means crew changes are handled by helicopter, also inspiring the continued need for industry-leading pipeline engineering – the Forties pipeline system carries 30% of the UK’s oil.
With the help of Geologists and new technologies, the site was re-evaluated using a 4D seismic survey and another 800 million barrels worth found – meaning Engineers, Extraction Experts and associated offshore staff will be needed for the next 20 years.
The Forties Alpha Satellite Platform (FASP) has offered 18 new drilling shots, connected the existing Forties Alpha platform by a 90m bridge and provided additional liquids processing and gas compression facilities – and generated jobs across the field in Engineering, Geology and Construction.
Clair
Clair was discovered West of the Shetland Islands in 1970 but due to technical difficulties in taking the oil to shore it did not begin production until 2005.
Investment and development has continued since then in the “monster” oil field – £4.5 billion has been invested in the hope of producing 640 million barrels of oil over 40 years.
The project recently reached its latest milestone as it continued its second phase of development. Living quarters and the jackets for drilling production have been installed on the field, as it moves one step closer to becoming one of the UK’s main oil producing areas.
Because of the high-scale investment, management roles are all about maximising efficiency and the cost-effectiveness. It is hoped the Clair site will become one of Scotland’s primary oil producers. It has been a long time coming, so who can blame the Project Co-ordinators, Planners and Site Managers for taking their time to make sure everything goes all right? That’s why these experts are so valued.
With production expected to continue until 2050, the Clair field will support jobs in Engineering, Extraction, Planning, Construction and Safety.
Contractors, meanwhile, have helped Clair-Ridge to become the first large-scale project to implement BP’s patented LoSal oil recovery system. This new technology alters the salinity of water injected into the reservoirs and increases the recovery of oil. Engineers and oil technology experts are needed to incorporate the technology into the field’s operation, as the Clair-Ridge field moves into a brave new world of UK Oil and Gas extraction.
Schiehallion
Discovered by drilling vessel the Ocean Alliance in 1993, this deep-water offshore field is also in the North Atlantic Ocean West of the Shetland Islands (these fields together with the Foinaven field from the area known as the West of Shetland).
With a total depth of 350 to 450 metres, recovering gas and oil is obviously no mean feat, but with the right machinery, manpower and engineering know-how this field is projected to produce up to 600 million barrels of oil.
Deepwater drilling is complex and can be dangerous, but advances in technology alongside skilled engineers have helped to design plants and develop machinery that make it possible.
Design and Mechanical Engineers have played a pivotal role in the success of the field and accessing the oil.
The old Shiehallion FPSO has been removed from site and is being replaced by the Glen Lyon 9 (Quad 204).
This project will also include an extension of the subsea system with 15 new and replacement flow lines and 21 new and replacement risers. There will also be 14 new added to the 52 existing ones.
The new FPSO is expected to produce 130 mbd of oil and 220 mmscfd of gas compression by 2017.
Despite the fall in oil prices recently and a market that seems in continual flux, the North Sea is clearly set to continue to harness innovation and technological advancements – and a highly skilled workforce will be instrumental in making it all happen.
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