scholarly journals Measuring methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart N. Riddick ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Michael Celia ◽  
Neil R. P. Harris ◽  
Grant Allen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract. Recent studies suggest oil and natural gas production facilities in North America may be underestimating methane (CH4) emissions during extraction. This, coupled with unusually high CH4 mole fractions observed at coastal sites during onshore winds in the UK, suggests CH4 emissions from oil and gas extraction activities in the North Sea could be higher than previously reported. To investigate if these coastal CH4 enhancements could have come from oil and gas production platforms, we use near-source measurement techniques to estimate CH4 emissions from eight oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea. We estimate the mean CH4 emission from the eight platforms to be 10.1 g CH4 s−1, with a range of 1.1 to 25.0 g CH4 s−1. When matched to production records, individual platforms lose between 0.01 % and 1.58 % of gas production with an average loss of 0.61 % of gas production. However, when the measured platforms are considered collectively, i.e. when the total measured emission is compared to total production of the platforms measured, the CH4 loss is estimated at 0.27 % of gas production. These calculated ranges are at least double the most recently reported loss rates for these platforms, which are currently estimated at 0.13 % of gas production. In fact, the vast majority of reported emissions are due to gas flaring and offshore oil loading, neither of which was taking place at the time of these measurements. If emissions measured here resulted from leakage during normal operation, they represent significant additional emissions (at least 0.27 % of production) above previous estimates of CH4 leakage from off-shore oil and gas production platforms. These emissions are not explicitly included in UK emission inventories. Further research to determine CH4 leakage from all operations occurring at off-shore oil and gas platforms, and how to include them in national emission inventories, is needed.

scholarly journals Methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (15) ◽  
pp. 9787-9796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart N. Riddick ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Michael Celia ◽  
Neil R. P. Harris ◽  
Grant Allen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil

Abstract. Since 1850 the concentration of atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, has more than doubled. Recent studies suggest that emission inventories may be missing sources and underestimating emissions. To investigate whether offshore oil and gas platforms leak CH4 during normal operation, we measured CH4 mole fractions around eight oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea which were neither flaring gas nor offloading oil. We use the measurements from summer 2017, along with meteorological data, in a Gaussian plume model to estimate CH4 emissions from each platform. We find CH4 mole fractions of between 11 and 370 ppb above background concentrations downwind of the platforms measured, corresponding to a median CH4 emission of 6.8 g CH4 s−1 for each platform, with a range of 2.9 to 22.3 g CH4 s−1. When matched to production records, during our measurements individual platforms lost between 0.04 % and 1.4 % of gas produced with a median loss of 0.23 %. When the measured platforms are considered collectively (i.e. the sum of platforms' emission fluxes weighted by the sum of the platforms' production), we estimate the CH4 loss to be 0.19 % of gas production. These estimates are substantially higher than the emissions most recently reported to the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory (NAEI) for total CH4 loss from United Kingdom platforms in the North Sea. The NAEI reports CH4 losses from the offshore oil and gas platforms we measured to be 0.13 % of gas production, with most of their emissions coming from gas flaring and offshore oil loading, neither of which was taking place at the time of our measurements. All oil and gas platforms we observed were found to leak CH4 during normal operation, and much of this leakage has not been included in UK emission inventories. Further research is required to accurately determine total CH4 leakage from all offshore oil and gas operations and to properly include the leakage in national and international emission inventories.

The Composition of Produced Water from Shell Operated Oil and Gas Production in the North Sea

1992 ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. W. M. Jacobs ◽  
R. O. H. Grant ◽  
J. Kwant ◽  
J. M. Marquenie ◽  
E. Mentzer
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Continuous measurements of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide on a North Sea gas platform

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. T. van der Laan-Luijkx ◽  
R. E. M. Neubert ◽  
S. van der Laan ◽  
H. A. J. Meijer
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Atmospheric Concentrations

Abstract. A new atmospheric measurement station has been established on the North Sea oil and gas production platform F3, 200 km north off the Dutch coast (5°51' N, 4°44' E). Atmospheric concentrations of O2 and CO2 are continuously measured using fuel cell technology and compact infrared absorption instruments, respectively. Furthermore, the station includes an automated air flask sampler for laboratory analysis of the atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, CO and O2 and isotope measurements of δ13C, δ18O and Δ14C from CO2. This station is the first fixed sea based station with on-site continuous O2 and CO2 measurements and therefore yields valuable information about the CO2 uptake in coastal marine regions, specifically the North Sea. This paper presents the measurement station and the used methodologies in detail. In comparison to land-based stations, the data show low day-to-day variability, as they are practically free of nightly inversions as well as human influences, due to the station's remoteness. Therefore, the data set collected at this measurement station serves directly as background data for the coastal northwest European region. Additionally, the first data are presented showing the seasonal cycle as expected during August 2008 through June 2009. Furthermore, some short-term O2 and CO2 signals are presented. The observations at the platform include several large and fast changing negative atmospheric O2 excursions without an accompanying change in the CO2 signal, which most likely indicate marine O2 uptake.

Development of semi-submersible production vessels and its application to Australian waters

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Hilde Engelsen ◽  
Henrik Hannus
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
Hull Design ◽  
Steel Catenary Risers ◽  
Drilling Rigs ◽  
In The Beginning

Semi-submersible platforms have a long history in the North Sea. In the beginning they were used mainly as mobile offshore drilling units, but in the last two decades the permanently moored semi-submersible production vessels have become widely used both as gas processing units and combination oil and gas production vessels. The design of production semi-submersibles evolved from that of drilling rigs, but there have since been significant improvements to the design of the hull and the topside configuration in relation to operational requirements and construction processes. The design methods have also been successfully adapted to areas with different environmental conditions, in combination with steel catenary risers and polyester mooring systems. On recent designs, simplifications of the hull systems are being implemented, which ease operation and enhance the passive safety. Finally, the semi-submersible production vessel’s application to Australian waters is discussed with focus on topside layout, hull design and mooring system design. Environmental conditions offshore northwest Australia are compared to North Sea and Gulf of Mexico conditions, along with vessel class and regulatory requirements.

The Beryl Field, Block 9/13, UK North Sea

1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Knutson ◽  
I. C. Munro
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North

AbstractThe Beryl Field, the sixth largest oil field in the UK sector of the North Sea, is located within Block 9/13 in the west-central part of the Viking Graben. The block was awarded in 1971 to a Mobil operated partnership and the 9/13-1 discovery well was drilled in 1972. The Beryl A platform was emplaced in 1975 and the Beryl B platform in 1983. To date, ninety-five wells have been drilled in the field, and drilling activity is anticipated into the mid-1990s.Commercial hydrocarbons occur in sandstone reservoirs ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. Structurally, the field consists of a NNE orientated horst in the Beryl A area and westward tilted fault blocks in the Beryl B area. The area is highly faulted and complicated by two major and four minor unconformities. The seal is provided by Upper Jurassic shales and Upper Cretaceous marls.There are three prospective sedimentary sections in the Beryl Field ranked in importance as follows: the Middle Jurassic coastal deltaic sediments, the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic continental and marine sediments, and the Upper Jurassic turbidites. The total ultimate recovery of the field is about 800 MMBBL oil and 1.6 TCF gas. As of December 1989, the field has produced nearly 430 MMBBL oil (primarily from the Middle Jurassic Beryl Formation), or about 50% of the ultimate recovery. Gas sales are scheduled to begin in the early 1990s. Oil and gas production is forecast until licence expiration in 2018.The Beryl Fields is located 215 miles northeast of Aberdeen, about 7 miles from the United Kingdom-Norwegian boundary. The field lies within Block 9/13 and covers and area of approximately 12 000 acres in water depths ranging from 350-400 ft. Block 9/13 contains several hydrocarbon-bearing structures, of which the Beryl Fields is the largest (Fig. 1). The field is subdivided into two producing areas: the Beryl Alpha area which includes the initial discovery well, and the Beryl Bravo area located to the north. The estimated of oil originally in place is 1400 MMBBL for Beryl A and 700 MMBBL for Beryl B. The fiel has combined gas in place of 2.8 TCF, consisting primarily of solution gas. Hydrocarbon accumulations occur in six reservoir horizons ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. The Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian) age Beryl Formation is the main reservoir unit and contains 78% of the total ultimate recovery.The field was named after Beryl Solomon, the wife of Charles Solomon, who was president of Mobil Europe in 1972 when the field was discovered. The satellite fields in Block 9/13 (Nevis, Ness and Linnhe) are named after Scottish lochs.

scholarly journals NEW DATA ON PROMISING OIL AND GAS OBJECTS IN THE SANDSTONES OF THE YAMNA SUITE OF THE PALEOCENE IN THE NORTHWEST OF THE SKIBA ZONE OF THE UKRAINIAN CARPATHIANS

2021 ◽  
pp. 90-110
Author(s):  
V.Ye. Shlapinskiy ◽  
H.Ya. Havryshkiv ◽  
Yu.P. Haievska
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Reservoir Properties ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
Natural Oil ◽  
Porosity And Permeability

More than 6 million tons of the oil have been extracted in the Skybа Zone of the Ukrainian Carpathians. In particular, 4.2 million tons of oil (85.7% of total production) were obtained from the Yamna sandstones of Paleocene, which are characterized by satisfactory physical properties. Most of the areas of fields that exploited them are located in the Boryslav oil and gas production area. Among them are such oil fields as Skhidnytsko-Urytske (more than 3.8 million tons of oil extracted), Violeta, Faustina, MEP, Miriam and Ropne. Outside this area, oil was extracted in Strilbychi and Staraya Sol. At most of these fields, oil horizons are at a depth of only 100-800 m. The gas and condensate are extracted at the field of Tanyavа in the wing of the Vytvytska Luska of the Berehova Skyba, which has been torn off by the thrust. In addition, a very large number of natural oil and gas manifestations - direct signs of oil and gas potential - have been recorded in the Skyba Zone. All this indicates the potential prospects of structures within the Skyba Zone, including shallow ones. The distribution area of Yamna sandstones is much larger than the area of these deposits. The distribution area of sandstones of Yamna is much larger than the area of these deposits. It occupies about half of the area of Skyba Zone. Part of it can be considered promising, removing areas where of Yamna sandstones are present on the day surface, although, even in such conditions, they are in some cases industrially oil-bearing (Strelbychi oil field). Sandstones of Yamna are characterized by satisfactory reservoir properties., The calculated porosity and permeability reach the maximum values at known deposits: 0.182 and 130 ∙ 10–3 microns2 respectively, and the estimated thickness of 13.5 m. In the Folded Carpathians and, especially, within the north-eastern fragments (Beregova, Oriv, Skoliv) in different years performed a large amount of field seismic surveys. On the basis of the obtained materials, for the first time in the Carpathian region structural constructions were made on the reflecting horizons in the Paleocene (Yamna Formation) and in the Stryi Formation of the Upper Cretaceous. This article evaluates the prospects of these research objects. The Khodkiv and Osichnyanska structures of Berehova Skyba are recommended for conducting search works.

scholarly journals Speciation of VOC emissions related to offshore North Sea oil and gas production

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shona E. Wilde ◽  
Pamela A. Dominutti ◽  
Stephen J. Andrews ◽  
Stephane J.-B. Bauguitte ◽  
Ralph R. Burton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Carbon Number ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Atmospheric Emissions ◽  
Light Alkanes ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Molar Ratios ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract. The North Sea is Europe's key oil and gas (O&G) basin with the output currently meeting 3–4 % of global oil supply. Despite this, there are few observational constraints on the nature of atmospheric emissions from this region, with most information derived from bottom-up inventory estimates. This study reports on airborne measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from O&G producing regions in the North Sea. VOC source emission signatures for the primary extraction products from offshore fields (oil, gas, condensate, mixed) were determined in four geographic regions. Measured iso-pentane to n-pentane (iC5 / nC5) ratios were 0.89–1.24 for all regions, used as a confirmatory indicator of O&G activities. Light alkanes (ethane, propane, butane, pentane) were the dominant species emitted in all four regions, however total OH reactivity was dominated by unsaturated species, such as 1,3-butadiene, despite their relatively low abundance. Benzene to toluene ratios indicated the influence of possible terrestrial combustion sources of emissions in the southern, gas-producing region of the North Sea, seen only during south or south-westerly wind episodes. However, all other regions showed a characteristic signature of O&G operations. Correlations between ethane (C2H6) and methane (CH4), confirmed O&G production to be the primary CH4 source. The enhancement ratio (ΔC2H6 / ΔCH4) ranged between 0.03–0.18, indicating a spatial dependence on emissions with both wet and dry CH4 emission sources. The excess mole fraction demonstrated that deepwater oil extraction resulted in a greater proportion of emissions of higher carbon number alkanes relative to CH4, whereas gas extraction, typically from shallow waters, resulted in a less complex mix of emissions dominated by CH4. The VOC source profiles measured were similar to those in the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) for oil production, with consistency between the molar ratios of light alkanes to propane. The largest discrepancies between observations and the inventory were for mono-aromatic compounds, highlighting that these species are not currently fully captured in the inventory. These results demonstrate the applicability of VOC measurements to distinguish unique sources within the O&G sector and give an overview of VOC speciation over the North Sea.

scholarly journals Speciation of VOC emissions related to offshore North Sea oil and gas production

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 3741-3762
Author(s):  
Shona E. Wilde ◽  
Pamela A. Dominutti ◽  
Grant Allen ◽  
Stephen J. Andrews ◽  
Prudence Bateson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Carbon Number ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Atmospheric Emissions ◽  
Light Alkanes ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Molar Ratios ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract. The North Sea is Europe's key oil and gas (O&G) basin with the output currently meeting 3 %–4 % of global oil supply. Despite this, there are few observational constraints on the nature of atmospheric emissions from this region, with most information derived from bottom-up inventory estimates. This study reports on airborne measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from O&G-producing regions in the North Sea. VOC source emission signatures for the primary extraction products from offshore fields (oil, gas, condensate, mixed) were determined in four geographic regions. Measured iso-pentane to n-pentane (iC5 / nC5) ratios were 0.89–1.24 for all regions, used as a confirmatory indicator of O&G activities. Light alkanes (ethane, propane, butane, pentane) were the dominant species emitted in all four regions; however, total OH reactivity was dominated by unsaturated species, such as 1,3-butadiene, despite their relatively low abundance. Benzene to toluene ratios indicated the influence of possible terrestrial combustion sources of emissions in the southern, gas-producing region of the North Sea, seen only during south or south-westerly wind episodes. However, all other regions showed a characteristic signature of O&G operations. Correlations between ethane (C2H6) and methane (CH4) confirmed O&G production to be the primary CH4 source. The enhancement ratio (ΔC2H6/ΔCH4) ranged between 0.03–0.18, indicating a spatial dependence on emissions with both wet and dry CH4 emission sources. The excess mole fraction demonstrated that deepwater oil extraction resulted in a greater proportion of emissions of higher carbon number alkanes relative to CH4, whereas gas extraction, typically from shallow waters, resulted in a less complex mix of emissions dominated by CH4. The VOC source profiles measured were similar to those in the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) for oil production, with consistency between the molar ratios of light alkanes to propane. The largest discrepancies between observations and the inventory were for mono-aromatic compounds, highlighting that these species are not currently fully captured in the inventory. These results demonstrate the applicability of VOC measurements to distinguish unique sources within the O&G sector and give an overview of VOC speciation over the North Sea.

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