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 Howe and Bardolino fields, Blocks 22/12a and 22/13a, UK North Sea
-
Published:October 30, 2020
Abstract
The Howe and Bardolino fields lie in UK Blocks 22/12a and 22/13a, respectively, on the eastern flank of the Forties–Montrose High. The Howe Field was discovered in 1987 by well 22/12a-1, and Bardolino in 1988 with well 22/13a-1ST. Both share common Jurassic reservoirs, have Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation top seals, require some form of lateral seal and have similar fluids. Howe has been producing relatively dry oil throughout its production life, indicating relatively good connectivity across the field area. In contrast, the Bardolino accumulation is proven to be compartmentalized. Bardolino is likely to be segmented through some fault-related mechanism.
In place volumes at the Howe Field are 46.8 MMbbl, with 17 MMbbl produced thus far through a combination of natural aquifer and solution gas cap drive by subsea development well 22/12a-9Z. In place volumes at the Bardolino Field are 11.2 MMbbl, with 1.1 MMbbl produced to date through depletion drive by a subsea development well 22/13a-8. This represents recovery rates of 35% for Howe and 10% for Bardolino to date. In place volumes for the undeveloped Pentland Formation at Howe are 5 MMbbl. In place estimates for the undeveloped Kimmeridge Clay Formation sandstones at Bardolino are 8 MMbbl.
- Atlantic Ocean
- Central Graben
- clastic rocks
- compartmentalization
- correlation
- development
- drilling
- Europe
- faults
- Fulmar Formation
- geophysical methods
- geophysical profiles
- geophysical surveys
- history
- Jurassic
- Kimmeridge Clay
- marine environment
- Mesozoic
- mudstone
- North Atlantic
- North Sea
- oil and gas fields
- oil wells
- paleoenvironment
- Paleozoic
- Permian
- petroleum accumulation
- production
- reservoir properties
- reservoir rocks
- sandstone
- sedimentary rocks
- seismic methods
- seismic profiles
- source rocks
- structural traps
- surveys
- traps
- United Kingdom
- Upper Jurassic
- Upper Permian
- Western Europe
- Zechstein
- Hugin Formation
- Smith Bank Formation
- Pentland Formation
- Forties-Montrose High
- Bardolino Field
- Howe Formation
- Nelson Platform
- Howe Field