The Minke, Orca, Sillimanite and Wingate fields are natural gas reservoirs and gas production facilities in the southern North Sea; they are close to, or straddle, the United Kingdom / Netherlands median line. Natural gas, which is routed to the Netherlands, has been produced from the fields since 2007.
The fields. The Minke, Orca, Sillimanite and Wingate fields (UK Block 44) are located north of the Greater Markham Area gas fields (UK Block 49) which also straddles the UK / Netherlands median line.
Minke and Orca are named after species of whale, Sillimanite is named after a mineral. Details of the gas fields is summarised in the table. +Field dataField nameMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingateBlocks44/24a (UK)
D15 (Netherlands)44/24a, 44/29b, 44/30a (UK)
D15b, D18a (Netherlands)44/19a (UK) D12A, D12B (Netherlands)44/24b (UK)Year discoveredJanuary 1993December 1993July 20152008Original licenseeWintershallRWE Dea UKWintershall NoordzeeWintershallGas reservoirCarboniferousCarboniferousCarboniferousWestphalian B sand bodies
Development The gas fields were developed by offshore platforms, subsea wellheads and pipelines. Details are summarised in the table. +InstallationsFieldMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingateBlock44/24a (UK)D18a (Netherlands)D12 (Netherlands)44/24b (UK)Installation name–D18A-aD12-BWingateInstallation typeSubsea wellheadFixed steel platformFixed steel platformFixed steel platformCoordinates54° 15.1300’N 2° 44.5067’E54° 18.994’N 02° 37.176’EInstalled2007201320202011Water depth, metres3254.341.529Substructure weight, tonnes26.75900Topsides weight, tonnes–1,2404950No. of legs–4–4No. of Wells13Gas export toD15-FAD15-FAD15-FAD15-FAExport pipeline length, diameter3.7 km (UK) + 11.2 km (Netherlands), 8-inch20 km, 8-inch10 km20.56 km, 12-inchPipeline number (gas)PL2401PL2850Control umbilical/ methanol supplyFrom D15-FA–Methanol from D15-FAUmbilical length, diameter14.9 km, 90.6mm–20.56 km, 2-inchUmbilical/Pipeline number (methanol)PLU2402–PL2851
Production Gas production from the fields is summarised below. +Gas productionFieldMinkeOrcaSillimaniteWingateOperatorGDF Britain then Neptune EnergyGDF SUEZ E&PWintershall NoordzeeWintershall NoordzeeStart of productionJune 2007201320202011Peak flow, million cubic metres/y133129793Year of peak flow200720142012Cumulative production to end of 2014, million cubic metres1501,321StatusProduction ceased 2010OperationalOperationalOperational
Decommissioning. Neptune Energy submitted a Decommissioning Programme for Minke to the UK Oil and Gas Authority in 2019.
See also
Greater Markham Area gas fields List of oil and gas fields of the North Sea
References