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.
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. 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). 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. 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. 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. +West Sole gas propertiesComposition%Methane94.0Ethane3.2Propane0.6Butane 0.2Pentane0.1Hexane0.1HeptaneTraceNitrogen1.5Carbon dioxide0.2Gas gravity0.594%Mean condensate content2.0 bbl/million cu ftCalorific value1024 Btu/cu ft
Development The West Sole and adjacent fields have been developed through a number of offshore installations. +West Sole field offshore installationsInstallationBlockPlatformFunctionTypeLegsWell slotsInstalledProduction startProduction toExport pipeline, length, diameterPipeline numberWest Sole WA complex48/6West Sole WA main platformDrilling & productionSteel jacket144July 1966March 1967Easington70 km, 16-inchPL28West Sole WAP platformDrilling & productionSteel jacket4–July 1966March 1967WB platform–West Sole WAS platformDrillingSteel jacket43August 19741974WA main platform–West Sole WB48/6West Sole WB platformDrilling & productionSteel jacket166November 1966March 1967Easington70 km, 24-inchPL145West Sole WC48/6West Sole WC platformDrilling & productionSteel jacket166August 19691970WB platform4 km, 12-inchPL94West Sole WEWest Sole WE platformDrillingSteel jacket41July 19671967, platform removed 1978WA main platformHyde48/6Hyde platformProductionSteel jacket31993July 1993WB platform11.5 km, 14-inchPL937Newsham47/7a–ProductionSubsea–11996June 1996WA platform12.4 km, 8-inchPL1171Hoton48/7Hoton platformProductionSteel jacket2002WB platform11.8 km, 8-inchPL1875Babbage48/2–ProductionSubsea–2010August 2010WB platform27.9 km, 12-inchPL2612Seven Seas48/7c–ProductionSubsea–120122012Newsham8.1 km, 8-inchPL2641 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. +Production dataFieldRecoverale or gas in place, bcmPeak production, bcm/yPeak production yearCumuative production to end of 2014, mcmWest Sole572.28197257,619Hyde4.220.4619943,764Newsham1.360.1271997768Hoton0.42020022,385Babbage5.00.51820111,213Seven seas0.1532013182 Note: mcm = million cubic metres, bcm = billion cubic metres.
Up to the end of 1977 18,154 mcm had been produced.
See also
Indefatigable gas field Leman gas field Hewett gas field Viking gas field Clipper gas field
References