A DYNAMIC SYSTEMS APPROACH TO THE REGIONAL CONTROLS ON DEPOSITION AND ARCHITECTURE OF ALLUVIAL SEQUENCES, ILLUSTRATED IN THE STATFJORD FORMATION (UNITED KINGDOM, NORTHERN NORTH SEA)

1998 ◽  
pp. 65-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK DALRYMPLE ◽  
JEREMY PROSSER ◽  
BRIAN WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Northern North Sea

The Development of Heavy Oil Fields in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf: Past, Present, and Future

2000 ◽  
Vol 3 (05) ◽  
pp. 317-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Jayasekera ◽  
S.G. Goodyear
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Heavy Oil ◽  
Oil Fields ◽  
High Porosity ◽  
Production Rates ◽  
Light Oil ◽  
Northern North Sea

Summary In this paper we review progress made in developing United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) heavy oil fields. Reservoir productivity is compared with existing light oil developments and three categories of heavy oil reservoir are identified, which require the application of different well technologies to achieve acceptable offshore production rates. Case histories from existing developments and fields under appraisal are used to illustrate how advances in technology and effective risk management allow increasingly difficult heavy oil fields to be developed. Finally, the future direction for these heavy oil developments is discussed, looking at the scope for improved oil recovery (IOR) techniques and further technology developments to drive down costs and to increase reserves in fields currently under waterflood or to improve the economics of hitherto subeconomic fields. Introduction Early production from UKCS oil fields has been of light oil. However, a significant number of "heavy" (taken to refer to reservoirs with in-situ viscosities greater than 5 cp) oil fields have also been discovered. Most UKCS heavy oil is in relatively shallow reservoirs, comprising high porosity unconsolidated sands with excellent horizontal permeability (typically 3000 to 10 000 md) and very high vertical permeability (kV:kH) in the range of 0.2 to 1.0). The oil columns are usually at least partially underlain by water and some also have primary gas caps. This combination of reservoir parameters and the demanding offshore environment of the UKCS presents a special set of reservoir engineering challenges because of the difficulties in achieving and maintaining sufficiently high production rates to justify development. In this paper we provide an overview of the development of heavy oil fields on the UKCS, past, present and future, with an emphasis on the subsurface issues. This shows how the application of new technology, principally horizontal wells, extended reach drilling (ERD) and improvements in sand control has led to successful developments. Increasing confidence in this technology has allowed the Captain field (reservoir viscosity 88 cp) to be brought onto production and encouraged appraisal activity on other fields with viscosities as high as 1000 cp. It is conservatively estimated that there are around 10 billion STB of heavy oil in place on the UKCS. Less than a quarter of this resource is currently being developed. Assuming that recovery factors for the undeveloped stock tank oil initially in place (STOIIP) are likely to be in the range of 20 to 40% shows that there are approximately 1.5 to 3 billion barrels of additional reserves to be produced, which will make a significant contribution to the longevity of the UKCS. Heavy Oil Resources in the UKCS Many of the heavy oil accumulations discovered in the UKCS are in the northern North Sea, in the eastern margins of the East Shetland Platform. Other significant discoveries are in the Fladen Ground Spur, the Halibut Horst, and west of the Central Graben. Heavy oils have also been discovered in the Atlantic margin area. Fig. 1 shows the structural elements in the central and northern North Sea and the location of heavy oil fields under production or active appraisal. The majority of the discoveries are in Lower Tertiary sands and Fig. 2 shows the conceptual lithostratigraphy of the important reservoirs. The principal heavy oil reservoirs are in the Upper Palaeocene Maureen formation, the Heimdal sands in the Lista formation (e.g., Mariner), and the Dornach and Hermod sands in the Sele formation (e.g., Bressay), the Balder and Frigg sands (e.g., Gryphon and Harding) and the mid-Eocene Nauchlan sand (Alba). The Captain field, which was discovered in 1977, is in the Lower Cretaceous Captain sand, and has the lowest API oil and highest in-situ oil viscosity of any currently producing UKCS field.

scholarly journals About this title

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. NP-NP ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Irish Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas Fields ◽  
East Midlands ◽  
Northern North Sea ◽  
The Irish Sea ◽  
Giant Fields ◽  
Gas Fields

Memoir 20 is the most comprehensive reference work on the UK's oil and gas fields available. It updates and substantially extends Memoir 14 (1991), United Kingdom 0il and Gas Fields, one of the Geological Society's best-selling books. This new edition contains updates on many of the ageing giant fields, as well as entries for fields either undiscovered or undeveloped when Memoir 14 was published.The book is divided into nine parts covering the major petroleum provinces both offshore and onshore United Kingdom, from the Gas Basin in the southern North Sea to the Viking Graben in the northern North Sea, from the Atlantic Frontier to the Irish Sea and from the Wessex Basin to the East Midlands. Each part contains a reference map showing field locations. The introductory chapters reveal the stories behind the major plays and discoveries therein, and their tectonic and stratigraphic framework. There are two appendices: tabulated field data and a comprehensive list for all of the UK's 300+ oil and gas fields.

A Dynamic Systems Approach to Personality

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Pervin
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Dynamic View ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of

David Magnusson has been the most articulate spokesperson for a holistic, systems approach to personality. This paper considers three concepts relevant to a dynamic systems approach to personality: dynamics, systems, and levels. Some of the history of a dynamic view is traced, leading to an emphasis on the need for stressing the interplay among goals. Concepts such as multidetermination, equipotentiality, and equifinality are shown to be important aspects of a systems approach. Finally, attention is drawn to the question of levels of description, analysis, and explanation in a theory of personality. The importance of the issue is emphasized in relation to recent advances in our understanding of biological processes. Integrating such advances into a theory of personality while avoiding the danger of reductionism is a challenge for the future.

Hydrocarbon plays in the northern North Sea

1990 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 441-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Pegrum ◽  
A. M. Spencer
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Northern North Sea
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