Third oil field just on stream in Dutch sector of North Sea

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Oil Gas J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6987451

Kennedy, J L

Three oil-producing fields are now onstream in the Dutch sector of the North Sea, an area which until about three years ago produced only natural gas. Union Oil Company of The Netherlands and Nedlloyd Energy B.V. are partners in the three fields, located in Block Q/1. Union is operator. Oil was first discovered in 1979 in an exploratory well about 40 km west of Den Helder. Confirmation drilling established the Helm field. About a year later, Helder field was discovered 6 km northwest of Helm. Production licenses for the two fields were granted in mid-1981 and production began from both fields in late September 1982. A third field in the Q/1 block, Hoorn, was discovered in 1980 and went onstream at the end of July 1983. In late summer 1983, Helm and Helder were producing a total of about 15,000 b/d, and Hoorn output was up to about 20,000 b/d one month after coming onstream. Development of the finds moved fast; for example, Hoorn field was put onstream 37 days ahead of schedule, according to a Union spokesman. Several factors were responsible for meeting--or beating--construction and development schedules, including: Cooperation of the Dutch government made permitting and other procedures move quickly. An integrated deck concept was used for platform design, reducing fabrication time and offshore construction time. Platforms for all three fields were identical, with only minor modifications made to handle different throughputs. Full approval to proceed with the development of Helm and Helder was obtained in July 1981, jackets and deck were delivered 1 year later and installed in August 1982. The Hoorn platform deck was delivered in June 1983, and started up at the end of July.

• OSTI ID: 6987451
• Journal Information: Oil Gas J.; (United States), Journal Name: Oil Gas J.; (United States) Vol. 82:1; ISSN OIGJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
42 ENGINEERING
423000 -- Engineering-- Marine Engineering-- (1980-)
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CONSTRUCTION
DESIGN
DRILLING
EXPLORATORY WELLS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
LICENSES
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH SEA
OFFSHORE DRILLING
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
OIL YIELDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PRODUCTION
RESOURCES
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
WELLS
YIELDS