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 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.[1] [2]
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.[3] [4] [5] [6]
| Field name | Minke | Orca | Sillimanite | Wingate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | 44/24a (UK)
D15 (Netherlands) |
44/24a, 44/29b, 44/30a (UK)
D15b, D18a (Netherlands) |
44/19a (UK) D12A, D12B (Netherlands) | 44/24b (UK) |
| Year discovered | January 1993 | December 1993 | July 2015 | 2008 |
| Original licensee | Wintershall | RWE Dea UK | Wintershall Noordzee | Wintershall |
| Gas reservoir | Carboniferous | Carboniferous | Carboniferous | Westphalian B sand bodies |
The gas fields were developed by offshore platforms, subsea wellheads and pipelines. Details are summarised in the table. [3] [4] [5] [6] [2] [7]
| Field | Minke | Orca | Sillimanite | Wingate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block | 44/24a (UK) | D18a (Netherlands) | D12 (Netherlands) | 44/24b (UK) |
| Installation name | – | D18A-a | D12-B | Wingate |
| Installation type | Subsea wellhead | Fixed steel platform | Fixed steel platform | Fixed steel platform |
| Coordinates | 54° 15.1300’N 2° 44.5067’E | 54° 18.994’N 02° 37.176’E | ||
| Installed | 2007 | 2013 | 2020 | 2011 |
| Water depth, metres | 32 | 54.3 | 41.5 | 29 |
| Substructure weight, tonnes | 26.75 | 900 | ||
| Topsides weight, tonnes | – | 1,240 | 4 | 950 |
| No. of legs | – | 4 | – | 4 |
| No. of Wells | 1 | 3 | ||
| Gas export to | D15-FA | D15-FA | D15-FA | D15-FA |
| Export pipeline length, diameter | 3.7 km (UK) + 11.2 km (Netherlands), 8-inch | 20 km, 8-inch | 10 km | 20.56 km, 12-inch |
| Pipeline number (gas) | PL2401 | PL2850 | ||
| Control umbilical/ methanol supply | From D15-FA | – | Methanol from D15-FA | |
| Umbilical length, diameter | 14.9 km, 90.6mm | – | 20.56 km, 2-inch | |
| Umbilical/Pipeline number (methanol) | PLU2402 | – | PL2851 |
Gas production from the fields is summarised below.[8]
| Field | Minke | Orca | Sillimanite | Wingate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | GDF Britain then Neptune Energy | GDF SUEZ E&P | Wintershall Noordzee | Wintershall Noordzee |
| Start of production | June 2007 | 2013 | 2020 | 2011 |
| Peak flow, million cubic metres/y | 133 | 129 | 793 | |
| Year of peak flow | 2007 | 2014 | 2012 | |
| Cumulative production to end of 2014, million cubic metres | 150 | 1,321 | ||
| Status | Production ceased 2010 | Operational | Operational | Operational |
Production from the Minke field in mcm was:
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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Production from the Orca field in mcm was:
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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Production from the Wingate field in mcm was:
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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Neptune Energy submitted a Decommissioning Programme for Minke to the UK Oil and Gas Authority in 2019.[5]
