Abstract The Douglas Field is located in Block 110/13b in the East Irish Sea. It was the first oilfield to be discovered and produced in the region, having been found in 1990 and brought on stream in January 1996. The field structure comprises a series of north–south-trending, tilted, extensional fault blocks. The reservoir interval is the Triassic Ormskirk Sandstone Formation comprising good quality aeolian and fluvial sandstones. The field is relatively shallow, with the top reservoir at c. 2120 ft true vertical depth subsea. The hydrocarbon is a light oil of 44°API gravity with a maximum column height of c. 400 ft. The Douglas Field contains an estimated stock tank oil in place of 248 MMbbl and was developed with 22 wells: 15 producers, six water injectors and a single sour gas and condensate disposal well. Electric submersible pumps are installed in oil producers for artificial lift and water injection was utilized from field start-up for pressure maintenance. A water-alternating-gas pilot was implemented on the field in 2017 as an enhanced oil recovery scheme. The field currently produces at a rate of c. 4000 bopd, with approximately 90% water cut. The field has produced 103 MMbbl to date, giving a current oil recovery of c. 41%.

Abstract The Lennox Field is a saturated oilfield with a significant primary gas cap at initial conditions. Located in the East Irish Sea withincBlocks 110/14c and 110/15a, the field was discovered in 1992. First oil was achieved in February 1996. Lennox is a rollover anticline structure. The Triassic Ormskirk Sandstone Formation reservoir comprises good-quality aeolian and fluvial sandstones with typicalcporosities of 11–21%. The gas column reaches a height of c. 850 ft and overlays a 143 ft oil column. Oil initially-in-place is estimated to be 202 MMbbl, whilst total gas initially-in-place is 521 bcf. The field has been developed by a wellhead platform tied-back to the neighbouring Douglas Complex. The field development has been split into two phases: the first phase focused on oil production and involved the drilling of 12 horizontal and multilateral production wells and two gas injection wells. Oil production ceased in 2012 with total produced volumes of 103 MMbbl. The second phase comprised the gas cap blowdown, and the optimization of the existing well stock for gas production. Eni UK acquired the operatorship of the field in April 2014 and has focused on maximizing and accelerating gas production from the field.

Abstract Hydrocarbon exploration in the East Irish Sea Basin began with the identification of surface oil seeps in peat beds in Lancashire, UK. This precipitated the drilling of the first onshore exploration wells. The discovery of the Formby Field in west Lancashire at the end of the 1930s triggered a wave of further drilling. Wells drilled in west Lancashire had limited success, with only minor hydrocarbon shows, whilst the production from the Formby Field was modest. Nonetheless, the invaluable geological information taken from onshore wells and the ratification of the Continental Shelf Act led to a shift in focus to the offshore and a period of significant interest in the East Irish Sea. Two key periods of oil and gas exploration activity stand out in the history of the offshore basin, the first headed by the Gas Council during the 1970s resulted in the discovery of the gas giants of Morecambe Bay, whilst the second fronted by Hamilton Oil during the 1990s heralded the discovery of oil with the Douglas and Lennox fields in Liverpool Bay. Exploration in the basin has waned during the last decade; however, to date, this mature hydrocarbon province has yielded estimated hydrocarbon reserves of over 1.8 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent).