The L4-L7 gas fields are significant natural gas producing fields in the Netherlands sectors L4 and L7 of the North Sea. They are operationally one complex which started producing gas from the L7 main platform hub in 1977 and was still partly operational in 2021.
The fields
The adjacent Block L4 and L7 gas fields are located in the Southern
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
. The L7 gas field was discovered in 1973 and the L4 field the following year.
The gas reservoirs are Upper
Rotliegend
The Rotliegend, Rotliegend Group or Rotliegendes (german: the underlying red) is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) of latest Carboniferous to Guadalupian (middle Permian) age that is found in the subsurface of large areas in wes ...
es
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
s, L7 lies at a depth of . The L7 field had recoverable reserves of 1.47 trillion cubic feet.
Development
The L4-L7 reservoirs were developed by a number of offshore installations across both Blocks. The L7 main platform complex was the hub of the fields, it received gas from its bridge-linked drilling/wellhead (C) and compression (PK) platforms, from L7 Block satellite platforms, and from the adjacent Block L4.
The peak production from the L7 field was 135 MMSCFD in 1978–9, and from the L4 field was 106 MMSCFD in 1983.
The design capacity of the process facilities on L7-P platform is 5.5 million m
3/day.
The field was initially operated by Petroland BV, then Total.
Decommissioning
The status of the production facilities is given in the final column of the above table. The entire L7 field is now closed as is the L4-B Platform. Operations continue in parts of the L4 field.
See also
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Helder, Helm and Hoorn oil fields
Helder, Helm and Hoorn are adjacent oil fields located in the Netherlands sector of the North Sea 40 km west of Den Helder and 80 km north west of Amsterdam.
The fields
The Helder, Helm and Hoorn oil fields are located in Block Q of the Nether ...
*
Kotter and Logger oil and gas fields
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K13 gas fields
The K13 gas fields were major natural gas producing fields in the Netherlands sector of the North Sea, about 130 km west of Den Helder. The fields started producing gas in 1975 but are no longer operational except for one installation used as a ri ...
*
K14-K18 gas fields
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L10 gas field
References
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North Sea energy
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
Natural gas fields in the Netherlands