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Esmond, Forbes and Gordon gas fields

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Esmond gas field
CountryUnited Kingdom
RegionNorth Sea
Location/blocks43/13a
Offshore/onshoreOffshore
Coordinates54°36’18”N 01°25’36”E
OperatorHamilton Brothers
Ownersee text
Service contractorssee text
Field history
DiscoveryJune 1982
Start of production1985
Peak of production1.2 billion cubic metres per year
Abandonment1995
Production
Producing formationssandstone

Esmond, Forbes and Gordon are three adjacent, now depleted, natural gas fields in the southern North Sea, 170 km east of Teesside.

The fields

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Esmond, Forbes and Gordon were the most northerly gas fields in the UK sector of the southern North Sea: Esmond was in Block 43/13a, Forbes in Block 43/8a and Gordon in Blocks 43/15a and 43/20a. The fields were named after Scottish clans.[1]

The gas reservoirs are Lower Triassic Bunter sandstones at a depth of 4,470 to 5,755 feet (1,362 to 1,754 metres). The reservoir properties are:[2]

Esmond, Forbes and Gordon reservoir properties
Parameter Esmond Forbes Gordon
Discovered June 1982 January 1970 June 1969
Thickness, feet 342 187 440
Porocity, % 23-4 15-25 14-21
Water saturation, % 16.8 15.9 22.1
Gas water contact, feet 4,470 5,744 5,450
Temperature, °F 135 146 142
Pressure at depth, pounds force per square inch @ feet 2,280 @ 4,600 2,800 @ 5,700 2,622 @ 5,300
Volume factor, standard cubic feet/reservoir cubic feet 158 179 165
Composition methane, % 91 86 82
Composition nitrogen, % 8 12 16
Gas in place, billion cubic feet (1985) 381 104 185
Recoverable reserves, billion cubic metres (1994) 9.1 1.5 3.9

Owner and operator

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In 1985 the licensees were Hamilton Oil GB plc (48%), Hamilton Bros Petroleum (UK) Ltd (12%), RTZ Oil and Gas Ltd (25%), Blackfriars Oil Co Ltd (12.5&), and Trans-European Co. Ltd (2.5%). The operator was Hamilton Brothers Oil & Gas Ltd.[3] Hamilton Bros remained the operator until BHP assumed operatorship prior to decommissioning in 1995.

Development

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The three fields were individually uneconomic to develop.[3] However, the development was viable if they were developed together. They were configured as a central processing complex (Esmond) and two unmanned satellites, Forbes and Gordon.[3]

Esmond, Forbes and Gordon platform parameters and features
Platform Esmond CP Esmond CW Forbes AW Gordon BW
Type Steel jacket Steel jacket Steel jacket Steel jacket
Coordinates 54°36’18”N 01°25’36”E
Function Processing and accommodation Wellheads Satellite drilling and production Satellite drilling and production
Water depth, metres 31 31 23 17
Jacket fabrication McDermott, Ardesier Lewis Offshore, Stornoway McDermott, Ardesier McDermott, Ardesier
Jacket weight, tonnes 1,912 1,049 991 857
Topsides fabrication McDermott, Ardesier Lewis Offshore, Stornoway Wm Press, Wallsend Wm Press, Wallsend
Topsides weight, tonnes 5,960 543 2,163 2,163
Legs 8 4 4 4
Piles 16 8 6 6
Well slots None 12 (7 wells planned) 9 (2 planned) 9 (2 planned)
Production capacity, million standard cubic feet per day 200 MMSCFD (334 MMSCFD winter peak)
Jacket installation September 1984 July 1984 1984 1984
Topsides installation April 1985 Spring 1985 Spring 1985
Start up June 1985 June 1985 August-October 1985 August-October 1985
Accommodation 51 Nil 4–6 (emergency) 4–6 (emergency)
Production to: Bacton gas terminal by pipeline CP via bridge CP by pipeline CP by pipeline
Pipeline, length and diameter 204 km 24-inch 11.5 km 10-inch 35 km 12-inch

Production

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Processing facilities on Esmond comprised gas/condensate/water separation, Tri-ethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration, and provision for 20,000 bhp of gas compression. Condensate was injected into the gas export line.[3]

Peak production from the three fields was:[1]

  • Esmond 1.2 billion cubic metres per year (bcmy) (1986)
  • Forbes 0.5 bcmy (1986)
  • Gordon 0.4 bcmy (1986)

By 1995 Esmond had produced around 8.5 x 109 standard cubic metres. That was about 93% of the recoverable reserves in the reservoir.[4]

Later developments

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Decommissioning was approved in 1993-5; the Forbes platform was recovered to shore in 1993, the Esmond and Gordon installations were taken to a yard in the Netherlands for dismantling in 1995.[5] [6]

The 24-inch Esmond to Bacton pipeline was known as the Esmond Transmission System (ETS). Following decommissioning of Esmond in 1995 the pipeline was reconfigured and reused to transport gas from Tyne and Trent fed by a 20-inch pipeline. The 37 km northerly part of the ETS was disconnected. The remainder was renamed EAGLES East Anglia Gas And Liquids Evacuation System Pipeline. Tyne production ceased in 2015. The Cygnus gas field has used the pipeline since 2016.[4]

There are proposals to use the Esmond reservoir for carbon dioxide storage.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b Department of Trade and Industry (1994). The Energy Report. London: HMSO. pp. 47, 49, 52, Map 2&3. ISBN 0115153802.
  2. ^ Bifani (1986). "Esmond Gas Complex 1986". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.1986.023.01.13. S2CID 129036960.
  3. ^ a b c d Oilfield Publications Limited (1995). The North Sea Platform Guide. Ledbury: Oilfield Publications Limited. pp. 206–211.
  4. ^ a b "About ETS". Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Approved Decommissioning". abarrelfull. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Oil and gas: decommissioning of offshore installations and pipelines". gov.uk. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  7. ^ Benthama, Michelle, Gareth Williams, Hayley Vosper, Andrew Chadwick, John Williams, Karen Kirka (2017). "Using pressure recovery at a depleted gas field to understand saline aquifer connectivity" (PDF). Energy Procedia. 114: 2906–2920. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1418.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)