Table Of ContentBRITAIN'S ONSHORE OIL INDUSTRY
GLOBE INDUSTRY REPORTS is a management reports' series specially written by expert observers
and experienced practitioners for senior managers in industry, commerce and the professions. The
reports are designed to offer the manager the benefits of in-depth business information on a wide
range of industries. They highlight the opportunities for profit- and risks- of industries in today's
economic climate.
Already published
1 John Huxley: BRITAIN'S ONSHORE OIL INDUSTRY
2 Hidde P. Smit: FORECASTS FOR THE WORLD RUBBER ECONOMY TO THE YEAR 2000
3 James J. Lynch: AIRLINE ORGANIZATION IN THE 1980s
BRITAIN'S ONSHORE OIL INDUSTRY
John Huxley
Palgrave Macmillan
@J.D. Huxley 1983
All rights reservedo No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission
First edition 1983
Reprinted 1986
Published by
MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD
(Journals Division)
Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http:/f extras.springer.com
ISBN 978-0-333-34526-9 ISBN 978-1-349-06597-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06597-4
Set in IBM Courier by
Morgan-Westley, Bristol
To my mother who always said I would do it, and my wife and son
who ensured that I did.
Contents
List of figures ix
List of tables X
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Units of Measurement xiv
Glossary XV
List of appendixes xvii
1. The Hidden Industry 1
2. The Lie of the Land 9
3. Environmental Impact 20
4. Beginnings 28
5. Shale Oil 34
6. The First Drilling Campaign 40
7. Nationalisation 46
8. The East Midlands Oilfields 51
9. Natural Gas 62
10. Crisis and Recovery 69
11. Wytch Farm 77
12. Into the 1980s 87
13. The Prospective Areas 94
14. The Participants 102
15. Onshore Economics 111
16. The Licensing System 118
17. Land Access 126
18. Planning Problems 134
Postscript 141
Appendixes 145
Notes 175
Index 186
vii
List of Figures
1.1 Onshore oil and gas fields 2
1.2 Onshore drilling, 1972-81 3
1.3 Onshore drilling: rig activity 4
2.1 The geological time-frame 10
2.2 Petroleum geology 11
2.3 Formation of an oil trap 13
2.4 Seismic survey - Vibroseis method 15
2.5 Rotary drilling rig 16
2.6 Typical exploration well 18
2.7 The search for oil and gas prospects 19
3.1 Impact assessment matrix 21
3.2 Typical exploration drillsite layout 24
5.1 Oil shale fields of the Lothians 35
5.2 Production of crude oil from Scottish shale, 1873-1962 37
5.3 United Kingdom oil shales 38
8.1 East Midlands oilfields 54
8.2 Section through the Eakring oilfield 55
11.1 Drilling in Dorset 79
11.2 Wytch Farm: principal sites 81
11.3 Wytch Farm: cross-section of track of development well 83
11.4 Wytch Farm: schematic diagram of oil field 85
13.1 North-west Europe, discoveries and main prospective basins 95
14.1 Enhanced oil recovery using carbon dioxide 107
ix
List of Tables
6.1 Hardstoft - war-time production 43
6.2 1918-22 drilling campaign 44
so
7.1 Formby - production
8.1 East Midlands - production 57
8.2 Wareham, Kimmeridge - production 61
9.1 Gas (methane) production in the United Kingdom 62
10.1 Oil price adjustments since 1970 76
11.1 Wytch Farm - production 77
12.1 Licensing and drilling activity 88
14.1 Licence holdings, Mar. 1981 - Mar. 1982 lOS
15.1 Wytch Farm cash flow 117
X
Preface
It still comes as something of a shock to many people to learn that
Britain produces oil from onshore wells. Until fairly recently the
industry had received little attention, and although it is now more than
60 years since the first oil was pumped from this green and pleasant
land, no previous book has been published on the subject as far as I am
aware. By contrast, while production from the British sector of the
North Sea is not yet 20 years old a big library on the subject has
already been written and is being added to regularly. This is not
altogether surprising given the disparity in output on and off shore,
and the contribution made by the latter to the country's financial
well-being.
Nevertheless, it is clearly time to remedy the omission so far as
the landward activity is concerned. Not only does Britain, indeed, have
a busy onshore oil industry, but it is one that can now boast a field
with reserves bigger that those of several commercial North Sea finds.
OVer the past few years, exploration has attracted increased attention,
and not merely from those whose task it is to organise, finance and
undertake the search for oil and gas. It has also come more to the
notice of planners, politicians and members of the general public who
must debate and decide how far exploration and production are compat
ible with other objectives, such as conservation of the countryside.
To them, the petroleum lying beneath Britain's countryside - and towns
- must be seen as a mixed blessing, involving cost as well as benefit.
For this reason, the industry, as it has grown during the 1970s, has
become part of the broader and bigger conflict between energy and the
environment, expressed elsewhere in debates over, for example, new coal
mines (as at Vale of Belvoir in Leicestershire) and the siting of new
power stations (as with the pressurised water reactor proposed for
Sizewell in Suffolk).
It is humbly hoped that this book, apart from being an interesting
and reliable guide to the past, present and future of a fascinating
industry, will also provide some of the background information needed by
all parties if there is to be better mutual understanding of the prob
lems involved and a sensible resolution of them.
Although I have received tremendous guidance and encouragement from
many people both inside and outside the industry, any one of whom might
have been better qualified to write this book, I am well aware that the
result may suffer some of the defects stemming from its being, effec
tively, the first in the field. Historical source material is limited,
much contemporary information is confidential, and though many within
the industry freely contributed their opinions, understandably few
wished to lend their names to published comments. Still, this book is
a start. Perhaps others will now be provoked to rectify any short
comings, fill out some of the detail, and take the story further.
Finally, I am painfully aware that the conclusions, largely incorp
orated in the postscript, may seem overly tentative. If this is so it
is for two important reasons. Firstly, the book is being written at a
time of much unfinished business within the industry. Large finds are
still awaiting exploitation. The long-term impact of a recent planning
decision has still to be seen. Secondly, recent history strongly urges
caution in energy forecasting. An important determinant of the future
xi
