Insight into the North Sea
The North Sea is one of most frequently traversed seas of the world and two of the world's largest ports are situated on its coasts. The North Sea is mostly renowned for its offshore oil industry; however it also supplies most of Northern Europe with fish, with over 230 different species living its waters. In particular Cod, Sole, Plaice, Mackerel and Haddock are fished commercially. These intensive and sometimes conflicting uses of the North Sea cause a number of challenges in maintaining a healthy and balanced eco system.
Many people imagine oil to have been discovered in the North Sea within the last 35 years; although it was way back in 1859 that the Germans made the first discovery after drilling for coal in the Southern North Sea Basin above North Germany. This find started the German oil industry, and up until 1890 a further 100 wells were drilled, of which 60 produced oil. Shortly after Natural Gas was discovered in the North Sea in 1910.
In August 1959, after five relatively quiet decades a well drilled by Shell & Esso in Groningen, the Nertherlands changed the face of the European Oil Industry over night. The vastness of the Groningen field was calculated by Geologists to be some twenty miles long with a conservative estimate of capacity at 6 billion cubic feet per day. This made it to be one of the largest gas fields in the world. The Oil industry in the North Sea got very serious indeed, and commercial exploration was soon underway.
In 1965 five major gas discoveries totaling some 20 trillium cubic feet were found, enough to saturate the entire UK monopoly market. By 1969 seismic ships were scouring the North Sea for oil, and then the Phillips Petroleum Company made the second biggest discovery in North Sea history, the fist billion barrel oil field, 'Ekofisk Field' in Norwegian waters.
The North Sea is sometimes considered to be a deep sea area; however it is actually relatively shallow. The depth increases from less than 30 meters in the South to around 200 meters in the North. The exception to this is a small area of the North Sea called the Norwegian Trench which cuts through the North-Western part of the sea and is up to 700 meters deep in the area called the Skagerrak.
The popular view is that the UK's share of North Sea oil is in decline, with energy reserves diminishing rapidly about 35 years after the oilfields were first exploited. There is however a growing body of opinion that suggests that proven oil reserves have been underestimated Consistently.
Up to 37 billion barrels of oil have now been extracted from the UK's continental shelf, with an estimated 25.5 billion barrels remaining. Many Oil experts believe that the remaining reserves exceed current estimate by as much as one fifth. With the advent of new 'smart-drill' technology, and the ever spiraling price of oil, it is now economically viable to drill fields, once considered too difficult or too remote.
Many people imagine oil to have been discovered in the North Sea within the last 35 years; although it was way back in 1859 that the Germans made the first discovery after drilling for coal in the Southern North Sea Basin above North Germany. This find started the German oil industry, and up until 1890 a further 100 wells were drilled, of which 60 produced oil. Shortly after Natural Gas was discovered in the North Sea in 1910.
In August 1959, after five relatively quiet decades a well drilled by Shell & Esso in Groningen, the Nertherlands changed the face of the European Oil Industry over night. The vastness of the Groningen field was calculated by Geologists to be some twenty miles long with a conservative estimate of capacity at 6 billion cubic feet per day. This made it to be one of the largest gas fields in the world. The Oil industry in the North Sea got very serious indeed, and commercial exploration was soon underway.
In 1965 five major gas discoveries totaling some 20 trillium cubic feet were found, enough to saturate the entire UK monopoly market. By 1969 seismic ships were scouring the North Sea for oil, and then the Phillips Petroleum Company made the second biggest discovery in North Sea history, the fist billion barrel oil field, 'Ekofisk Field' in Norwegian waters.
The North Sea is sometimes considered to be a deep sea area; however it is actually relatively shallow. The depth increases from less than 30 meters in the South to around 200 meters in the North. The exception to this is a small area of the North Sea called the Norwegian Trench which cuts through the North-Western part of the sea and is up to 700 meters deep in the area called the Skagerrak.
The popular view is that the UK's share of North Sea oil is in decline, with energy reserves diminishing rapidly about 35 years after the oilfields were first exploited. There is however a growing body of opinion that suggests that proven oil reserves have been underestimated Consistently.
Up to 37 billion barrels of oil have now been extracted from the UK's continental shelf, with an estimated 25.5 billion barrels remaining. Many Oil experts believe that the remaining reserves exceed current estimate by as much as one fifth. With the advent of new 'smart-drill' technology, and the ever spiraling price of oil, it is now economically viable to drill fields, once considered too difficult or too remote.
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