The Rubie Field, Block 15/28b, UK North Sea

The Rubie Field is located within the Outer Moray Firth in Block 15/28b, towards the eastern end of the Renee Ridge and 6 km east of the Renee Field. The block was awarded to a BNOC-operated group following the 7th Licensing Round in 1980. The 15/28b-4 discovery was drilled by Britoil in 1985, encountering hydrocarbons at two stratigraphic levels within the Paleocene Andrew Sandstone unit and Eocene Cromarty Sandstone Member reservoirs. No further appraisal was undertaken prior to a late 1997 Annex B submission for a joint Renee and Rubie Field development by new operator, Phillips Petroleum. The Rubie development plan comprised a single 6000 ft Andrew Sandstone horizontal producer which was completed in March 1999 and tested at an initial rate of 9700 bopd and 1.65 MMscfgd. Export of fluids was via a 6 km-long pipeline to the Renee Field manifold and then onwards to the host facility in the Ivanhoe–Rob Roy fields. Rubie was brought on stream on 29 May 1999. Abandonment was originally scheduled for end 2006, but field-life extension initiatives deferred cessation of production (COP) to March 2009. Cumulative Andrew Sandstone production at COP was 11.5 MMbbl and the oil recovery factor 50%, based on a final mapped oil-in-place of 23 MMbbl.

The Renee Field, Block 15/27a, UK North Sea

The Renee Field lies in Block 15/27 toward the eastern end of the Renee Ridge, a major intra-basinal high in the Outer Moray Firth separating the Witch Ground Graben and South Halibut Graben. The block was awarded to a Phillips Petroleum-led consortium in the fourth Round of UKCS Licensing in March 1972. The 15/27-1 discovery well was drilled in 1976, testing oil at rates of 8025 bopd from stacked Piper/Upper Scott sandstone reservoirs. The field was appraised in mid-1997 and an Annex B submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry in late 1997 for a joint Renee and Rubie Field development. Oil export was via a 21 km pipeline to the Ivanhoe/Rob Roy fields, north of Renee. The development comprised a three-well drilling programme, completed in August 1999. First production was achieved in February 1999 at rates of up to 20 000 bopd, the plateau period continuing until year end. Production continued to decline until the field was permanently shut-in during September 2006. Ultimate recovery was 8.9 MMbbl and recovery factor 49%, based on a final mapped stock tank oil-in-place of 18.2 MMbbl. Decommissioning of the Renee Field commenced in 2015 with the removal of the subsea infrastructure.

Petroleum geological activities in West Greenland in 1999

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Christiansen, F. G., Dalhoff, F., Bojesen-Koefoed, J. A., Chalmers, J. A., Dam, G., Marcussen, C., Nøhr-Hansen, H., Nielsen, T., Pedersen, A. K., Riisager, P., & Sønderholm, M. (2000). Petroleum geological activities in West Greenland in 1999. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 186, 88-96. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v186.5221 _______________ Renewed interest in petroleum exploration in West Greenland led to grants of licences for the Fylla area operated by Statoil in 1996 and the Sisimiut-West area operated by Phillips Petroleum in 1998 (Fig. 1). The first exploration well on one of the spectacular structures in the Fylla area will be drilled in the year 2000. The new exploration strategy is now in place, and a licensing round offshore West Greenland will be held in the year 2001; see details in the Ghexis Newsletter (Ghexis 1999) or the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum’s homepage: www.bmp.gl.

Petroleum geological activities in West Greenland in 1998

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Christiansen, F. G., Boesen, A., Bojesen-Koefoed, J. A., Chalmers, J. A., Dalhoff, F., Dam, G., Ferré Hjortkjær, B., Kristensen, L., Melchior Larsen, L., Marcussen, C., Mathiesen, A., Nøhr-Hansen, H., Pedersen, A. K., Pedersen, G. K., Pulvertaft, T. C. R., Skaarup, N., & Sønderholm, M. (1999). Petroleum geological activities in West Greenland in 1998. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 183, 46-56. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v183.5204 _______________ In the last few years there has been renewed interest for petroleum exploration in West Greenland and licences have been granted to two groups of companies: the Fylla licence operated by Statoil was awarded late in 1996; the Sisimiut-West licence operated by Phillips Petroleum was awarded in the summer of 1998 (Fig. 1). The first offshore well for more than 20 years will be drilled in the year 2000 on one of the very spectacular structures within the Fylla area. To stimulate further petroleum exploration around Greenland – and in particular in West Greenland – a new licensing policy has been adopted. In July 1998, the administration of mineral and petroleum resources was transferred from the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy to the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum under the Government of Greenland in Nuuk. Shortly after this, the Greenlandic and Danish governments decided to develop a new exploration strategy. A working group consisting of members from the authorities (including the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland – GEUS) made recommendations on the best ways to stimulate exploration in the various regions on- and offshore Greenland. The strategy work included discussions with seismic companies because it was considered important that industry acquires additional seismic data in the seasons 1999 and 2000.