Greater Markham Area gas fields

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Markham gas field
CountryUnited Kingdom and Netherlands
Regionsouthern North Sea
Location/blocks49/5a and 49/10b (UK), J3b and J6 (NL)
Offshore/onshoreOffshore
Coordinates53° 50.527’ N 02° 52.059’ E
Operatorssee text
Field history
DiscoveryJuly 1974
Start of production1992
Peak of production1995
Abandonment2019
Production
Recoverable gas19.8×10^9 m3 (700×10^9 cu ft)
Producing formationsPermian sandstone

The Greater Markham Area gas fields are natural gas reservoirs and gas production facilities that straddled, or are close to, the UK and Netherlands median line of the southern North Sea. The UK field production facilities, which export gas to the Netherlands, began operation in 1992.

The fields[edit]

The Greater Markham Area gas fields are located in UK Blocks 49/4, 49/5, 49/9 and 49/10 and in Netherlands Blocks J3 and J6 of the southern North Sea. The fields are named: Markham, Windermere, Chiswick, Grove, Stamford and Kew.[1] [2]

Markham[edit]

The Markham gas field was discovered by Ultramar in July 1984 with well 49/05-2. It is a lower Permian Leman/Slochteren sandstone, sourced from Carboniferous coal measures and is overlaid with Permian Silverpit claystone. It is a sweet gas with 83 % methane and a gas/condensate ratio of 9 barrels per million standard cubic feet (9 bbl/MMSCF) or 52.2 m3/106 m3. Recoverable reserves were estimated to be 700 Billion cubic feet (BCF) or 19.8 x 109 m3.[1] Ownership of the gas was established by the UK/Netherlands Markham Treaty as 37.40 % UK and 62.60 % Netherlands.[3]

The original licensee for Markham was a joint venture comprising Ultramar Exploration Ltd (89.50 %), DNO Offshore Ltd (8.00 %) and Ranger Oil (UK) Ltd (2.5 %.).[3] Ownership passed to CH4 Energy Ltd in 2003, Venture Production acquired ownership in 2006. Ownership eventually passed to Centrica, then in 2017 to Spirit Energy a joint venture of Centrica plc and Bayerngas Norge AS.[4]

Windermere[edit]

The UK Windermere gas field produced gas to Markham and hence to the Netherlands. Windermere is a Rotliegend-Leman sandstone discovered in 1989 by well 49/09b-2 by Mobil (who named the field Avalon)[3] and had an estimated gas in place of 104 BCF or 2.8 x 106 m3.[5]

Chiswick, Grove and Kew[edit]

The Chiswick and Kew are both Carboniferous fields Chiswick has gas in place of 687 BCF or 19.45 x 106 m3 and Kew 85 BCF or 2.41 x 106 m3.[6]

Development[edit]

The Greater Markham Area gas fields were developed in stages. Markham and Windermere gas fields were the first to be developed in 1994 and 1996. Gas was produced by two offshore installations, detailed in the table.[1] [7]

Offshore platforms Markham and Windermere
Installation Markham ST-1 Windermere
Blocks 49/5a and 49/10b (UK),

J3b and J6 (NL)

49/9b
Coordinates 53° 50.527’ N 02° 52.059’ E 53° 49.937’ N 02° 46.364’ E
Owner Spirit Energy Ineos UK SNS Ltd
Type Normally unattended Normally unattended
Water depth, metres 31 35
Installation date 1994 November 1996
Jacket type Fixed steel Fixed steel
Jacket legs 4 3
Jacket piles 4 3
Jacket weight, tonnes 888 382
Topsides dimensions, metres 26.3m x 22m 30m x 30m
Topsides weight, tonnes 1,300 452
Wellheads 6 2
Export to Markham J6-A Markham ST-1
Production start November 1992 April 1997

The Chiswick, Grove, Kew and Stamford gas fields were developed over the period 2006-2014 by four offshore installations, detailed in the table.[1] [2] [8]

Offshore installations Chiswick, Grove, Kew and Stanford
Installation Chiswick Grove Kew Stamford
Blocks 49/4a 49/10a 49/4c 49/10c
Coordinates 53.939967 2.7740533 53.858778 2.886000 53.954935 2.784486 53.804192 2.836928
Owner Spirit Spirit Spirit Spirit
Type Platform Platform Subsea wellheads Subsea wellheads
Water depth, metres 40 30 41 34
Installation date 2006 2006 2014 2009
Jacket type Fixed steel Fixed steel – –
Jacket legs – –
Jacket piles – –
Jacket weight, tonnes 650 500 – –
Topsides weight, tonnes 350 480 – –
Wellheads 1 1
Export to Markham J6-A Markham J6-A Chiswick Markham J6-A
Production start 2006 2006 2014 2009

In addition to the platforms and subsea wells there were also gas and methanol pipelines and umbilicals in the Greater Markham area.[1]

Pipelines and Umbilicals
From – To Country Fluid Diameter, inches Length, km Pipeline number
Markham ST-1 – Median line UK Gas 12 2.35 PL992
Median line – J6A Netherlands Gas 12 3.13 PL992
J6A – Median line Netherlands Methanol 2 3.127 PL993
Median line – Markham ST-1 UK Methanol 2 2.347 PL993
Windermere – Markham ST-1 UK Gas 8 6.8 PL1273
Markham ST-1 – Windermere UK Methanol 2 6.8 PL1273.1-3
Chiswick – J6A UK, Netherlands Gas 10 18.3 PL2353
J6A – Chiswick UK, Netherlands Methanol 1.5 18.3 PL2354
Grove – J6A UK, Netherlands Gas 10 13.4 PL2319
J6A – Grove UK, Netherlands Methanol 2 13.4 PL2320
Stamford – J6A UK, Netherlands Gas 6 7.5 PL2367
J6A – Stamford UK, Netherlands Methanol 7.5 PLU2368
Kew – Chiswick UK Gas 6 3.1 PL2974
Chiswick – Kew UK Methanol 3.1 PLU2975

Production[edit]

Gas production from Greater Markham Area fields is shown in the table and the graphs.[3] [2] [8]

Gas Production
Field Production start Peak flow, mcm/y Peak year Production ceased Cumulative production to 2020 (mcm)
Markham November 1992 933 1995 April 2016 7,877
Windermere April 1997 438 1998 April 2016 2217
Chiswick 2007 569 2009 – 6915
Grove 2007 636 2010 – 3873
Kew 2014 175 2014 – 1053
Stamford 2009 132 2009 2013 165

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Markham field was as shown.[8]

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Windermere field was as shown.[8]

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Chiswick field was:

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Grove field was:

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Kew field was:

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Stamford field was:

Decommissioning[edit]

Spirit Energy submitted a Markham ST-1 decommissioning Programme to the Oil and as Authority in 2018.[1] Ineos Oil & Gas UK submitted a Windermere decommissioning Programme to the Oil and as Authority in 2018.[7] Decommissioning activities entailed plugging and abandonment of the wells and removal of all structures above the seabed.[1] The Markham topsides were taken to Lerwick Shetland for dismantling.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Markham ST-1 Decommissioning Programmes" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Inventory of Offshore Installations". odims.ospar.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Department of Trade and Industry (1994). The Energy Report. London: HMSO. pp. 70 124 134. ISBN 0115153802.
  4. ^ "Spirit Energy". www.spirit-energy.com. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. ^ "The Windermere gas field". Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Chiswick and Kew fields". mem.lyellcollection.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Windermere Decommissioning Programme" (PDF). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d "Oil and Gas UK – Field data". www.gov.uk. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
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