United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Volume
CONTAINS OPEN ACCESS

Geological Society Memoir 52 records the extraordinary journey of more than 50 years that has led to the development of some 458 oil and gas fields on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). It contains papers on almost 150 onshore and offshore fields in all of the UK's main petroliferous basins. These papers range from look-backs on some of the first-developed gas fields in the Southern North Sea, to papers on fields that have only just been brought into production or may still remain undeveloped, and includes two candidate CO2 sequestration projects.
These papers are intended to provide a consistent summary of the exploration, appraisal, development and production history of each field, leading to the current subsurface understanding which is described in greater detail. As such, the Memoir will be an enduring reference source for those exploring for, developing, producing hydrocarbons and sequestering CO2 on the UKCS in the coming decades. It encapsulates the petroleum industry's deep subsurface knowledge accrued over more than 50 years of exploration and production.
The Blane Field, Block 30/3a, UK North Sea
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Published:October 30, 2020
Abstract
The Blane Field is located in the central North Sea in Block 30/3a (Licence P.111), approximately 130 km SE of the Forties Field, in a water depth of 75 m (246 ft). It straddles the UK/Norway median line with 82% of the field in the UK and 18% in Norway. Blane produces undersaturated oil from the Upper Forties Sandstone Member of the Sele Formation and contains good quality light oil within a four-way structural closure; it has a hydrodynamically tilted original oil–water contact. The field stock-tank oil initially in place estimate is 93 MMbbl with an expected ultimate recovery of 33 MMbbl. Blane first oil was achieved in September 2007. The field has been developed by two horizontal producers located on the central crest of the field supported by a water injector drilled on the NW flank. Oil production peaked at c. 17 000 bopd in 2007 and the field is currently in decline. By the end of 2018 production was c. 3000 bopd with 55% water-cut. Cumulative oil production to the end of 2018 was 26.6 MMbbl.
- Atlantic Ocean
- Cenozoic
- clastic rocks
- description
- Eocene
- Europe
- history
- lower Eocene
- North Atlantic
- North Sea
- oil and gas fields
- oil-water interface
- Paleogene
- physical properties
- production
- reserves
- reservoir properties
- sandstone
- sedimentary rocks
- seismic stratigraphy
- Tertiary
- traps
- United Kingdom
- Western Europe
- Ypresian
- Sele Formation
- Montrose Group
- Moray Group
- Forties Sandstone Member
- Blane Field
- Andrew Sandstone Member