West Sole gas field

The West Sole gas field is a natural gas and associated condensate field located under the North Sea 44 miles (70 km) off the East Yorkshire coast. The field produced Britain’s first offshore natural gas in 1967.

West Sole gas field
CountryUnited Kingdom
RegionSouthern North Sea
Location/blocks48/6
Offshore/onshoreOffshore
Coordinates53°42′12″N 1°09′00″E
OperatorsBP (1967-2012), Perenco (2012- )
Field history
Discovery1965
Start of development1966
Start of production1967
Peak of production2.28 Billion cubic metres per year
Peak year1972
Production
Recoverable gas57.00×10^9 m3 (2.013×10^12 cu ft)
Producing formationsRotliegendes

The field

The West Sole gas field is a substantial natural gas field located in the UK North Sea. The field is named after the Sole Pit area of the southern North Sea beneath which the field is situated.[1] The gas reservoir is a Rotliegendes sandstone of Lower Permian age located at a depth of 9,000 feet (2,740 m) with a thickness of 262–430 feet (80–131 m). The reservoir is capped by Zechstein salt. The West Sole structure runs north-west to south-east and is about 12 miles long and 3 miles wide (19 km by 4.8 km).[2][3] It was discovered in 1965 and extends over Block 48/6 only. The original determination of the gas in place amounted to 57 billion cubic metres.[1] The field was originally licensed to BP Exploration UK Ltd, in 2012 ownership was transferred to Perenco UK Ltd. Production from the field began in March 1967; this was the first British offshore natural gas delivered onshore for commercial use.[4] Gas and associated condensate are exported from the field via two pipelines (16 inch and 24 inch diameter) to the Easington gas terminal, East Yorkshire.

The West Sole gas composition and properties are as follows.[5]

West Sole gas properties
Composition %
Methane 94.0
Ethane 3.2
Propane 0.6
Butane 0.2
Pentane 0.1
Hexane 0.1
Heptane Trace
Nitrogen 1.5
Carbon dioxide 0.2
Gas gravity 0.594%
Mean condensate content 2.0 bbl/million cu ft
Calorific value 1024 Btu/cu ft

Development

The West Sole and adjacent fields have been developed through a number of offshore installations.[5][6][7]

West Sole field offshore installations
Installation Block Platform Function Type Legs Well slots Installed Production start Production to Export pipeline, length, diameter Pipeline number
West Sole WA complex 48/6 West Sole WA main platform Drilling & production Steel jacket 14 4 July 1966 March 1967 Easington 70 km, 16-inch PL28
West Sole WAP platform Drilling & production Steel jacket 4 – July 1966 March 1967 WB platform –
West Sole WAS platform Drilling Steel jacket 4 3 August 1974 1974 WA main platform –
West Sole WB 48/6 West Sole WB platform Drilling & production Steel jacket 16 6 November 1966 March 1967 Easington 70 km, 24-inch PL145
West Sole WC 48/6 West Sole WC platform Drilling & production Steel jacket 16 6 August 1969 1970 WB platform 4 km, 12-inch PL94
West Sole WE West Sole WE platform Drilling Steel jacket 4 1 July 1967 1967, platform removed 1978 WA main platform
Hyde 48/6 Hyde platform Production Steel jacket 3 1993 July 1993 WB platform 11.5 km, 14-inch PL937
Newsham 47/7a – Production Subsea – 1 1996 June 1996 WA platform 12.4 km, 8-inch PL1171
Hoton 48/7 Hoton platform Production Steel jacket 2002 WB platform 11.8 km, 8-inch PL1875
Babbage 48/2 – Production Subsea – 2010 August 2010 WB platform 27.9 km, 12-inch PL2612
Seven Seas 48/7c – Production Subsea – 1 2012 2012 Newsham 8.1 km, 8-inch PL2641

Some of these installations were one of the 'Villages' gas fields; named after villages lost to the sea along the Holderness coast. These villages include: Cleeton, Dimlington, Hoton, Hyde, Newsham and Ravenspurn.

Gas production from the fields is summarised on the table.[8]

Production data
Field Recoverale or gas in place, bcm Peak production, bcm/y Peak production year Cumuative production to end of 2014, mcm
West Sole 57 2.28 1972 57,619
Hyde 4.22 0.46 1994 3,764
Newsham 1.36 0.127 1997 768
Hoton 0.420 2002 2,385
Babbage 5.0 0.518 2011 1,213
Seven seas 0.153 2013 182

Note: mcm = million cubic metres, bcm = billion cubic metres.

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the West Sole gas field was as shown.[8] Up to the end of 1977 18,154 mcm had been produced.

See also

References
  1. Department of Trade and Industry (1994). The Energy Report. London: HMSO. p. 97. ISBN 0115153802.
  2. Tiratsoo, E. N. (1975). "Natural Gas a study". Journal of Geology. 83 (1): 134. Bibcode:1975JG.....83..134G. doi:10.1086/628060.
  3. Tiratsoo, E. N. (1972). Natural Gas: a Study. Beaconsfield: Scientific Press Ltd. pp. 208–9.
  4. Williams, Trevor I (1981). A history of the British gas industry. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 174–5. ISBN 0198581572.
  5. OPL (1985). The North Sea Platform Guide. Ledbury: Oilfield Publications Limited. pp. 717–24.
  6. "Inventory of Offshore Installations". odims.ospar.org. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  7. "OGA interactive Maps". ogauthority.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  8. "Oil and Gas UK – Field data". Retrieved 10 December 2021.
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