The Thames gas field is a depleted

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 former gas production facility in the UK sector of the southern

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The field is located about 80 km north east of Bacton, Norfolk; the Thames production facility was in operation from 1986 until 2014.

The fields

The Thames field was discovered by

ARCO ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

in December 1973 by well 49/28-4. The field is principally located in Block 48/28. The gas reservoir is a Rotliegend sandstone. At the time of start-up, the field was jointly owned by ARCO British Ltd (43.34%), British Sun Oil Co Ltd (23.33%), Superior Oil (UK) Ltd (20.00%), Deminex UK Oil & Gas Ltd (10.00%), and Canadian Superior Oil (UK) Ltd (3.33%). The field was anticipated to have recoverable reserves of 16.2 billion cubic metres (bcm). In addition to Thames, the adjacent fields produced natural gas to the Thames facility. note 1. Reserves are in billion cubic metres (bcm). The

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, Bure, Deben,

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. The Wensum is ...

and

Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the villag ...

fields are named after rivers in East Anglia and south east England. Arthur and Gawain are part of the

Arthurian gas fields The Arthurian gas fields are small natural gas producing areas in the UK sector of the southern North Sea, their names are associated with the legend of King Arthur. The fields started gas production from 1989 and several are now depleted and ha ...

Development

The Thames field was developed by ARCO as a central 3-platform bridge linked complex. In addition to its own gas, Thames was designed to be a central hub to receive and process well fluids from the surrounding installations. Processed gas was transmitted by pipeline from Thames to the Bacton Gas Terminal, Norfolk. The main design parameters of the Thames area installations are summarized in the table. In 2007 the Deben wellhead was reused for the Thurne development. The Thames AP platform had the main process equipment which included gas compressors and liquid handling plant. The accommodation facilities for 47 crew were also located on AP. The AW platform had 5 wellheads and the reception facilities for Arthur, Orwell, Gawain, Bure, Welland and Yare fields. The AR platform had reception facilities for Bure West, Horne/Wren and Thurne fields. In addition to the gas pipelines, there were also umbilicals between some of the installations. As part of the Thames development new pipeline reception facilities and process plant was installed at the

Phillips Phillips may refer to: Businesses Energy * Chevron Phillips Chemical, American petrochemical firm jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. * ConocoPhillips, American energy company * Phillips 66, American energy company * Phil ...

(latter Eni, Tullow) terminal at Bacton gas terminal. From the reception facilities gas passed to the former

Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...

(later

Perenco Perenco is an independent Anglo-French oil and gas company with a headquarters in London and Paris. It conducts exploration and production activities in 16 countries around the globe (the North Sea, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Democra ...

) site for treatment.

Gas production

Gas production from Thames and the connected fields is shown in the table, data includes the peak rate and the cumulative production over the period 1986 to 2014. The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Thames field was as shown. The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Orwell field was as shown.

Decommissioning and recommissioning

A cessation of production authorisation for Thames was granted in May 2014. Perenco developed a decommissioning programme. This entailed the plugging and abandonment of all wells and removal of all structures above the seabed. Pipelines were left in situ after being flushed and filled with seawater. In 2019 Independent Oil and Gas (now IOG) purchased the Thames gas pipeline reception facilities at the Bacton terminal. The facilities comprise an area of land within the Perenco part of Bacton where IOG’s fully-owned Thames pipeline connects to the terminal. It includes gas and liquids reception equipment recommissioned for the development of IOG’s southern North Sea Core Project, across six fields. Produced gas will continue onto the main Perenco Bacton plant for final processing. In 2021 the Blythe and Southwark platforms were installed.

References

{{reflist Natural gas fields in the United Kingdom North Sea energy

The fields

Development

Gas production

Decommissioning and recommissioning

See also

References