The East Midlands Oil Province, also known as the East Midlands Petroleum Province, covers the petroliferous geological area across the north-eastern part of the East Midlands of England that has a few small oil fields. The largest field in the province is the Welton oil field, the second largest onshore oil field in the UK.

Geography

It comprises

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Bar ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

and northern Leicestershire.

History

UK oil production

The UK's first oil field was discovered in the East Midlands, at

Hardstoft Hardstoft is a hamlet in Derbyshire, England. It is located four miles east of Clay Cross, on the B6039 road. The Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company found small quantities of oil near Hardstoft in 1919 under encouragement from the British govern ...

in east

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1919. Prior to this, from 1851, oil shale in the Midland Valley in Scotland was used, until 1962. With

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea ...

, Britain became self-sufficient with oil and became a net exporter of oil in 1981, with exports peaking in 1985 and production peaking in 1999. The UK became a net exporter of gas in 1997 and a net importer of gas in 2004, and also a net importer of oil in 2004. UK consumption of petroleum increases each year. Per capita consumption of oil annually is about 1.3 tonnes. The UK has the capacity to refine 92 million tonnes of crude oil a year. Currently the North Sea is producing around 1.5m barrels of oil a day. The peak was in 2000 at 4.5m a day. The Brent oilfield is being decommissioned. The

United Kingdom Continental Shelf The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) is the region of waters surrounding the United Kingdom, in which the country has mineral rights. The UK continental shelf includes parts of the North Sea, the North Atlantic, the Irish Sea and the English Channel; th ...

has reserves of between 12 - 24bn barrels. In 2014, around 14% of the UK's gas came from Russia via Ukraine.

Onshore oil

Until 1990, relatively little oil was produced by UK onshore oil industry. This rapidly increased to peak between 1991 and 1999, where around 5 million tonnes of oil was produced each year - 5.4 million tonnes, the most, was produced in 1996. Since 1999 it has gradually declined to around 1 million tonnes a year. Onshore UK natural gas peaked in 2001. Cumulatively, onshore oil production has produced around 2% (around ) of offshore (North Sea) production. The

Wytch Farm Wytch Farm is an oil field and processing facility in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. It is the largest onshore oil field in western Europe. The facility, taken over by Perenco in 2011, was previously operated by BP. It is located in ...

oil field in Dorset, the largest onshore oilfield in Europe and run by BP, has reserves on its own of around of oil. The East Midlands Province provides 11% of UK onshore oil, 65% of the total excluding Wytch farm. So far, the Province has provided around 6 million tonnes of oil. In total, the UK has around 15 million tonnes of onshore oil left. Although onshore oil reserves are much less, it costs much less to find and develop onshore oil. Depleted onshore oilfields at Gainsborough and Welton will be used for gas storage, of which the UK has little allocated reserves. The UK has reserves of 12 days of gas, compared to 91 days in France and 77 days in Germany.

Discoveries

Oil was discovered at

Kelham Kelham is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire about northwest of Newark on a bend in the A617 road near its crossing of the River Trent. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 207. Historical Kelham ...

Hills in the 1920s. In June 1939, BP (then the D'Arcy Exploration Company) discovered oil at

Eakring Eakring is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England. Its population at the 2011 Census was 419. There was sizeable oil production there in the mid-20th century. Geography The village lies between ...

; although this was not announced until September 1944. During the war the field produced over 300,000 tons of oil or 2,250,000 barrels from 170 pumps. Oil was also drilled for during the war at

Caunton Caunton is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire on the A616, north-west of Newark-on-Trent, in the NG23 postcode. The population (including Maplebeck and Winkburn) of the civil parish at the 2011 Ce ...

and Kelham Hills.

Welton Gathering Centre

This is actually at Reepham near Sudbrooke on railway, and opened on 21 May 1986 by Alick Buchanan-Smith, the Energy minister. Production began at of oil per day, rising to 3,000. The Centre is the home of Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd on ''Barfield Lane''. In the early 1990s, a 1,000 tonnes of oil was taken on a train to Immingham every other day. When building the centre, BP discovered a plesiosaurus which was displayed in Scunthorpe Natural History Museum.

Oil companies

BP acquired Candecca Resources and Cambrian Exploration from Trafalgar House in July 1987 for £21m. Candecca Resources Ltd was a subsidiary of BP. It was bought by Kelt UK Ltd in April 1992. Kelt UK Ltd was a subsidiary of Kelt Energy plc and Edinburgh Oil and Gas plc. Most of the oilfield licences were owned by BP Exploration, when they were bought by Pentex Oil of Aberdeen in March 1989. Star Energy bought Pentex Oil in August 2005 for £38.5m.

Geology

The Province comprises a major series of Carboniferous

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-grabe ...

basins. Oil is found in Silesian

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 and fractured

Dinantian Dinantian is the name of a series or epoch from the Lower Carboniferous system in Europe. It can stand for a series of rocks in Europe or the time span in which they were deposited. The Dinantian is equal to the lower part of the Mississippian s ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

Welton oil fields

Most oil is transported by road tanker. It is the main part of the East Midlands Province oilfield, where thirty three oil fields have been discovered, including areas outside of Lincolnshire. Oil had been discovered in Corringham in 1958, Gainsborough in 1960, Glentworth in 1961, and

Torksey __NOTOC__ Torksey is a small village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 875. It is situated on the A156 road, south of Gainsborough and north-west of the city of ...

in 1962. Oil was also found in Nocton in the 1960s.

East Glentworth

Found near the A15 and B1398, just south-west of

Caenby Corner Caenby Corner is a small area in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, at the roundabout junction of the A15 and A631 roads. Close to the village of Caenby, it is situated on what was a major Roman road known as Ermine Street leadi ...

and near the (now exhausted) Glentworth Oilfield at Glentworth. Discovered in March 1987 by BP, wit
production
starting in February 1993. Formerly owned by Pentex Oil UK Ltd and now owned by Star Energy. Taken by road tanker to Gainsborough.

Scampton North

Discovered in October 1985 by BP wit
production
starting in February 1989. Owned by Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd and originally run by Candecca. Transported by road tanker to the Welton Gathering Centre at Reepham. The original Scampton Oilfield ceased production in 1988.

Cold Hanworth

Discovered in September 1997 by Candecca, wit
production
starting in September 1998 at

Cold Hanworth Cold Hanworth is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-north-east from the city and county town of Lincoln, England, Lincoln, and just north of the A46 road, A46. It is combined ...

. Owned by Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd, although originally run by Candecca. Transported by road tanker to the Welton Gathering Centre, which is just south of the oil field at Reepham.

Stainton

Just north-east of Welton at

Stainton by Langworth Stainton by Langworth is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated less than north-west from the A158 road, north-east from Lincoln and north-west from Horncastle. There is a war memoria ...

. Discovered by BP in July 1984, with production starting June 1987. Owned by Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd. Originally run by Candecca
Situated
on the Lincoln-Market Rasen (Newark - Grimsby) railway line and taken by road to the Welton rail terminal at Reepham.

Fiskerton Airfield

Discovered in November 1997 by Cirque with production starting in August 1998 on th
former

RAF Fiskerton Royal Air Force Fiskerton or more simply RAF Fiskerton was a Royal Air Force station located north of the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield closed at the end of the war in 1945 being a sat ...

. It is owned 48% by Cirque Energy (UK) Ltd, 32% by Altaquest Energy Corp (UK) Ltd, 18% by Courage Energy UK Ltd and 2% by Mermaid Resources (UK) Ltd. Run by Cirque Energy. Pipeline to the Welton Gathering Centre.

Welton

Largest of the fields, with about 2 million tonnes of initial oil reserves at Welton. Discovered in February 1981 by BP with production starting in November 1984. Owned by Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd. Originally run by Candecca and BP. Transported by rail. It is the second largest onshore oilfield in the UK after

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. The next largest is Stockbridge, Hampshire, run by Star Energy. It is even bigger than Eakring, which kept the UK going in World War Two. It is very much larger than all the other onshore fields. It has a predicted total production of .

Nettleham

Discovered in March 1983 by BP with production starting in October 1985. Owned by Star Energy (East Midlands) Ltd, although originally run by BP and Candecca. Oil transported by pipeline to the Welton Gathering Centre.

Keddington

Next door and north-east of

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

on the River Lud at

Keddington Keddington is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is north-east from Louth. Keddington Grade II listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Margaret. The church was restored in 1871–7 ...

. Discovered in January 1998 by Candecca, with production beginning in September 1998. Formerly owned 65% by ROC Oil (UK) Ltd and 35% by ROC Oil (CEL) Ltd. Bought in March 2007 by Egdon Resources for £250,000 with the two wells closed. Egdon restarted production in April 2007 and producing about a day. Up to Feb 2009, produced of oil. Estimated to be of oil. Taken by road tanker to the Welton Gathering Centre.

Farley's Wood (Nottinghamshire)

Owned by Onshore Production Services Ltd (OPS) or OOSL. Discovered in March 1983, production started July 1985, road tanker to Welton. Originally owned by EMOG
Situated
in between Walesby and

Tuxford Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,516, increasing to 2,649 at the 2011 census. Geography Nearby towns are Ollerton, Ret ...

Egmanton (Nottinghamshire)

The field was developed by BP Petroleum Development. Production started in July 1955 and production peaked in 1958.

Gainsborough based fields

None of these fields are in Lincolnshire, bu
oil
from the petroleum play i
collected
at

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

. The area around Gainsborough known as the Gainsborough Trough.

Beckingham West (Nottinghamshire)

Discovered in July 1985 by BP with production starting in October 1987. Formerly owned by Pentex Oil UK Ltd. Oil transported by pipeline to Gainsborough. The field is operated by

IGas Energy IGas Energy Plc is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, incorporated and operating in the United Kingdom, with headquarters in London. The company started and incorporated in 2003 to produce natural gas, primarily coalbed ...

which acquired Star Energy in 2011. Situated just off the A631 at Beckingham. Known also as the Gainsborough-Beckingham oil field. Production is near the Beckingham Marshes' RSPB nature reserve with daily production of 300 barrels of crude oil and 1 million cubic feet of natural gas. The gas is piped to a nearby power plant. The wells in the field were fracked using lower fluid volumes than used for Shale techniques. This method is similar to, but with lower volumes than hydraulic fracturing for the extraction of

shale gas Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some ...

Kirklington (Nottinghamshire)

Situated
just south of Eakring towards Newark on the A617 at Kirklington. Owned by Star Energy Oil & Gas Limited 75% and Star Energy Oil UK Limited 25%. Formerly owned by Pentex. Discovered in December 1985 by BP with production starting March 1991. Taken by road tanker to Gainsborough.

Rempstone (Nottinghamshire)

Far south of Nottinghamshire at junction of A60 and A6006 at

Rempstone Rempstone is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, although its closest town and postal address is Loughborough across the border in Leicestershire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...

in the far south of Nottinghamshire. Owned by Star Energy Oil & Gas Ltd 75% and Oil UK Ltd 25%. Discovered in December 1985 by Pentex, with production started June 1991. Formerly owned by Pentex. Road tanker to Gainsborough. Operated by Star.

Long Clawson (Leicestershire)

Owned by Star Energy Oil & Gas Ltd 75% and Star Energy Oil UK Ltd 25%. Discovered in March 1986, with production started December 1990. Originally owned by Pentex. Road tanker to Gainsborough. Situated o
Clawson Hill
at

Long Clawson Long Clawson is a village and former civil parish, now included in that of Clawson, Hose and Harby, in the Melton district and the county of Leicestershire, England. Being in the Vale of Belvoir, the village is enclosed by farmland with rich ...

Other independent oil fields

These are not run by Star Energy and oil is usually tankered direct to ConocoPhillips'

Humber Refinery The Humber Refinery is a British oil refinery in South Killingholme, North Lincolnshire. It is situated south of the railway line next to the A160; Total's Lindsey Oil Refinery is north of the railway line. It is situated approximately ten mil ...

South Killingholme South Killingholme is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,108. The parish was predominately agricultural and sparsely populated and the village small until the ...

near Immingham in

Whisby

Discovered in January 1985 by BP with production starting in May 1990 at Whisby Moor near North Hykeham. Owned and ran by Blackland Park Exploration Ltd, although originally ran by EMOG (East Midlands Oil & Gas - a UK division of Fortune Oil). Th
Whisby 4
and now the Whisby 5 wells are the currently producing wells and have now cumulatively more than doubled all historical production. Oil is transported by road tanker to Immingham.

West Firsby

Discovered in January 1988 by

Enterprise Oil Enterprise Oil was a major UK independent exploration and production company based in Europe, with core areas of activity in the United Kingdom and Ireland, mainland Europe, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. The Company was once a constituent of the ...

(former oil division of

British Gas plc British Gas plc was an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It was formed when the British Gas Corporation was privatised as a result of the Gas Act 1986, instigated by the government of Margaret Thatcher and superseding the ...

), wit
production
starting in August 1991 at West Firsby north of Lincoln, just west of

Spridlington Spridlington is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north from the city and county town of Lincoln, and just off the A15 road. According to the 2001 Census the village ...

. Owned 53% by

Tullow Oil Tullow Oil plc is a multinational oil and gas exploration company founded in Tullow, Ireland, with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. His ...

and 47% by Edinburgh Oil & Gas plc. Originally ran by Tullow Oil and Enterprise Oil, no
ran
by Europa since May 2003. Taken by road tanker to Immingham's ConocoPhillips Humber Refinery. Sourced by early Namurian pro-

deltaic A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rarel ...

shales. Found on a Variscan inversion

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

on a boundary fault of the Dinatian-Namurian Gainsborough Trough.

Crosby Warren

It was discovered in May 1986 by RTZ ( Rio Tinto Group), with production starting in October 1987. Just north-east of

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

, near the junction of the A1077 and A1029, just north of the Corus steel works. Just south of a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

settlement. Originally run by Edinburgh Oil & Gas, then bought by Europa Oil & Gas on 30 November 2006. Oil is transported by road tanker.

Newton on Trent

Discovered in April 1998 by AltaQuest with production starting in September 1998. Owned by Courage Energy (UK) Ltd and ran by AltaQuest. Oil is taken by road tanker to the ConocoPhillips Humber refinery in Immingham. Production ended in July 2000. Run by Blackland, and previously owned by Floyd Energy
Situated
just south of the village.

Future oil fields

Possible production may take place at Broughton and

Brigg Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tra ...

in North Lincolnshire.

References

External links

BBC Lincolnshire

Hydrocarbon prospectivity of Britain's onshore basins
(PDF)
Map of onshore fields in Britain, including the East Midlands Province
(PDF)

News items

Edgdon Resources drilling at Dukes Wood in January 2010
{{Petroleum industry Oil fields of England BP oil and gas fields Geography of Lincolnshire Geography of Nottinghamshire Geography of Leicestershire East Midlands