Minke, Orca, Sillimanite and Wingate gas fields

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The Minke, Orca, Sillimanite and Wingate fields are natural gas reservoirs and gas production facilities in the southern North Sea; they are close to, or straddle, the United Kingdom / Netherlands median line. Natural gas, which is routed to the Netherlands, has been produced from the fields since 2007.

Contents

The fields.

The  Minke, Orca, Sillimanite and Wingate fields (UK Block 44) are located north of the Greater Markham Area gas fields (UK Block 49) which also straddles the UK / Netherlands median line. [1] [2]

Minke and Orca are named after species of whale, Sillimanite is named after a mineral. Details of the gas fields is summarised in the table. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Field data
Field nameMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingate
Blocks44/24a (UK)

D15 (Netherlands)

44/24a, 44/29b, 44/30a (UK)

D15b, D18a (Netherlands)

44/19a (UK) D12A, D12B (Netherlands)44/24b (UK)
Year discoveredJanuary 1993December 1993July 20152008
Original licensee Wintershall RWE Dea UKWintershall NoordzeeWintershall
Gas reservoir Carboniferous CarboniferousCarboniferousWestphalian B sand bodies

Development

The gas fields were developed by offshore platforms, subsea wellheads and pipelines. Details are summarised in the table. [3] [4] [5] [6] [2] [7]

Installations
FieldMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingate
Block44/24a (UK)D18a (Netherlands)D12 (Netherlands)44/24b (UK)
Installation name–D18A-aD12-BWingate
Installation typeSubsea wellheadFixed steel platformFixed steel platformFixed steel platform
Coordinates54° 15.1300’N 2° 44.5067’E54° 18.994’N 02° 37.176’E
Installed2007201320202011
Water depth, metres3254.341.529
Substructure weight, tonnes26.75900
Topsides weight, tonnes–1,2404950
No. of legs–4–4
No. of Wells13
Gas export toD15-FAD15-FAD15-FAD15-FA
Export pipeline length, diameter3.7 km (UK) + 11.2 km (Netherlands), 8-inch20 km, 8-inch10 km20.56 km, 12-inch
Pipeline number (gas)PL2401PL2850
Control umbilical/ methanol supplyFrom D15-FA– Methanol from D15-FA
Umbilical length, diameter14.9 km, 90.6mm–20.56 km, 2-inch
Umbilical/Pipeline number (methanol)PLU2402–PL2851

Production

Gas production from the fields is summarised below. [8]

Gas production
FieldMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingate
OperatorGDF Britain then Neptune EnergyGDF SUEZ  E&PWintershall NoordzeeWintershall Noordzee
Start of productionJune 2007201320202011
Peak flow, million cubic metres/y133129793
Year of peak flow200720142012
Cumulative production to end of 2014, million cubic metres1501,321
StatusProduction ceased 2010OperationalOperationalOperational

Production from the Minke field in mcm was:

Production from the Orca field in mcm was:

Production from the Wingate field in mcm was:

Decommissioning.

Neptune Energy submitted a Decommissioning Programme for Minke to the UK Oil and Gas Authority in 2019. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Department of Trade and Industry (1994). The Energy Report. London: HMSO. ISBN   0115153802.
  2. 1 2 "Inventory of Offshore Installations". odims.ospar.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Production from Orca gas field started". www.rwe.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Wingate Field Development" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Minke Decommissioning Programmes" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Cross-border gas production from Sillimanite field". ocean-energyresources.com. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "OGA interactive Maps". ogauthority.maps.arcgis.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "Oil and Gas UK – Field data". www.gov.uk. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
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