Rosebank oil and gas field

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The Rosebank oil and gas field lies west of Shetland.[1][2] It is operated by Equinor; Suncor and Siccar Point Energy.[1] The discovery well was drilled in 2004. A final investment decision for Rosebank is planned to be taken by May 2022.[1] In 2022, Siccar Point Energy has been acquired by Ithaca Energy, a daughter company of Delek Group.

Ocean depth is 1,100 metres (3,600 ft). The discovery well, drilled to 2,743 metres (8,999 ft), flowed 6,000 barrels per day (950 m3/d) of 37° API light oil from a deposit 24 metres (79 ft) thick.
[3]

Exploration and Appraisal[edit]

Licence P.1026 covering blocks 213/26 and 213/27 was awarded to Texaco North Sea UK Co in the 19th UK offshore licensing round on June 1, 2001. The work program included a commitment to reprocess 3D seismic and to reach a decision on a ‘drill or drop’ well commitment within three years. In October 2001, Texaco was merged with Chevron who farmed-down its share of the licence to 40% prior to the discovery well, 213/27-1Z, being drilled in 2004. At the time of discovery the other licence owners were Statoil (30%), OMV (20%) and DONG (10%). Shortly after the discovery the four companies were granted an additional licence (P.1191) on adjacent block 205/1.[4]

Several changes in ownership of the licence have taken place resulting in the current ownership of Equinor 40% (and operator of the licence), Suncor (40%) and Siccar Point (20%). Statoil had sold its 30% stake of the licence to OMV in 2013[5] prior to Equinor acquiring Chevron’s 40% stake in 2019.[6] Statoil was renamed Equinor in 2018.[7] The licences currently cover blocks 213/26b, 213/27a and 205/1a.[4]

A three well appraisal program commenced in October 2006 and the second well in the sequence, 205/1-1, was flowed tested at a rate of 6,000 barrels/day of good quality oil.[8]

In oil and gas exploration it is common practice for prospects and discoveries to be named according to a theme.[9] Texaco named the Rosebank prospect after the Scottish malt whisky Rosebank. Texaco also named other prospects in the Atlantic Margin in keeping with the theme including Lagavulin, Talisker and Lochnagar. Other naming themes in use by various operators include sea birds (Shell), Scottish mountains (BP), castles, rivers, Scottish dances and famous geologists (Conoco).

Geology[edit]

The deposit is contained in layers of Tertiary period, Palaeocene Colsay [10]sandstone which lie between layers of basalt making use of seismic imaging difficult and expensive. It is estimated that 240 million barrels (38×10^6 m3) of oil and gas could be recovered.[2] A deeper Cretaceous period accumulation was also encountered in some of the wells and this was named Lochnagar.

Practical considerations[edit]

Weather conditions are extremely difficult. Superstructure is designed to withstand 100-foot (30 m) waves. High petroleum prices and favourable tax treatment is needed.[2] Bringing gas to market requires finding a way to finance a pipeline which would combine production from several fields in the West of Shetland area into a gas export pipeline.[11]
Equinor have selected FPSO Petrojarl Knarr for the development. The ship was constructed in 2014 for BG Norge.

Environmental Implications[edit]

Rosebank is the biggest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea, and could extract a projected 500 million barrels of oil equivalent over its lifetime. That makes it almost triple the size of the controversial Cambo oil field, which drew widespread protests and opposition in 2021 and was eventually paused. The emissions from burning the oil and gas in the Rosebank would be equal to the combined annual CO2 emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries in the world. This one field would produce as much pollution as the 700 million people do in a year.[12]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Equinor (June 4, 2019). “Equinor sets new timeline for Rosebank project”. Equinor. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Stanley Reed (July 23, 2013). “Chevron to Spend $770 Million on Remote Projects”. The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  3. ^ “Rosebank Oil and Gas Field, Shetland Islands, United Kingdom”. Offshore-Technology.com. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  4. ^ a b itportal.ogauthority.co.uk https://itportal.ogauthority.co.uk/information/licence_reports/offshorebylicence.html. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  5. ^ “OMV insists Rosebank remains important as Chevron sounds warning over economics of field – News for the Energy Sector”. www.energyvoice.com. 22 November 2013. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  6. ^ “Equinor buys Rosebank oilfield stake as Chevron shrinks in North Sea”. www.reuters.com. October 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  7. ^ “Our history”. www.equinor.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  8. ^ www.equinor.com https://www.equinor.com/en/news/archive/2007/07/18/RosebankASuccess.html. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  9. ^ “Geologists tap creative reservoir in naming offshore finds”. www.houstonchronicle.com. 10 August 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  10. ^ “Corona Ridge Area | Siccar Point Energy”. www.siccarpointenergy.co.uk. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  11. ^ UK offshore oil and gas – Energy and Climate Change Contents: 4, West of Shetland
  12. ^ “#StopRosebank MP actions”. www.stopcambo.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-03-30.

External links and further reading[edit]