The Clipper gas field is a major
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
reservoir and gas production facility in the UK sector of the southern North Sea. The field is located about 73 km north-north-east of Bacton, Norfolk; the Clipper production facility has operated since 1990.
The fields
The Clipper field was discovered by
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
in March 1968 in Block 48/19a, part of the Sole Pit area. The gas reservoir is a Lower
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
Leman Sandstone Formation. The field is jointly owned by ESSO E&P UK Ltd (50 %) and Shell UK Ltd (50 %).
The field was anticipated to have recoverable reserves of 22.5 billion cubic metres (bcm).
In addition to Clipper, the adjacent fields produced natural gas to the Clipper facility.
note 1. Reserves are in billion cubic metres (bcm).
The
Clipper,
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
,
Galleon
Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...
,
Cutter,
Carrack, and
Skiff
A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have deve ...
fields are named after sailing vessels.
Clipper South was owned by RWE Dea UK (50%), Fairfield Energy (25%), and Bayern Gas (25%). RWE Dea and Fairfield sold their interests to Ineos in 2015. The field is owned by Ineos and Spirit Energy.
Development
The Clipper field was developed by Shell as a central 3-platform bridge linked complex.
[Clipper fact sheet Shell 2021] Three further bridge-linked platforms were added later. In addition to its own gas, Clipper was designed to be a central hub to receive and process well fluids from the surrounding installations. Processed gas was transmitted by pipeline from Clipper to the
Bacton Gas Terminal
The Bacton Gas Terminal is a complex of six gas terminals within four sites located on the North Sea coast of North Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The sites are near Paston and between Bacton and Mundesley; the nearest town is North Walsham.
...
, Norfolk. The main design parameters of the Clipper area installations are summarized in the table.
Gas from Clipper South was originally routed to the ConocoPhillips LOGGS installation thence to Theddlethorpe gas terminal (TGT). When TGT closed in August 2018 a new pipeline was installed to route gas from Clipper South to Clipper.
As part of the Clipper development new pipeline reception facilities and process plant was installed at the Shell terminal at the Bacton gas terminal.
Gas production
Production facilities on the Clipper complex include bulk liquid removal, 5 centrifugal two-stage compression with a capacity of 2 x 200 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day).
Gas production from Clipper and the connected fields is summarised in the table, data includes the peak rate and the cumulative production over the period 1990 to 2014.
The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Clipper field was as shown.
The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Barque field was as shown.
See also
*
Bacton gas terminal
The Bacton Gas Terminal is a complex of six gas terminals within four sites located on the North Sea coast of North Norfolk in the United Kingdom. The sites are near Paston and between Bacton and Mundesley; the nearest town is North Walsham.
...
*
List of oil and gas fields of the North Sea
This list of oil and gas fields of the North Sea contains links to oil and natural gas reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In terms of the oil industry, "North Sea oil" often refers to a larger geographical set, including areas such as the Norwegi ...
*
West Sole gas field
The West Sole gas field is a natural gas and associated condensate field located under the North Sea 44 miles (70 km) off the East Yorkshire coast. The field produced Britain’s first offshore natural gas in 1967.
The field
The West Sole gas ...
*
Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System
The Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System (LOGGS) was a major natural gas collection, processing and transportation complex in the UK sector of the southern North Sea. It comprised five bridge-linked platforms about 118 km east of the Lincoln ...
References
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Natural gas fields in the United Kingdom
North Sea energy