Oil & Gas UK Economic Report 2014

In addition to these subsurface restraints, the surface conditions – both sea states and winds – can test engineering to its limits. It is an indication of what has to be overcome when working at the very edge of the North Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, the geological nature of the area made it difficult to make precise calculations of the true extent of the reservoirs. Both the Laggan and Tormore reservoirs comprise relatively thin stacked layers of sand and shale at depths of 3,500 to 3,900 metres

(11,500 to 12,800 feet). Total deployed new broadband processing techniques on its 3D seismic baseline surveying to gain a better understanding. Results were encouraging and the techniques deployed are now being used extensively to explore the rest of the company’s acreage in the region. However, the first development well on Tormore encountered oil, underlining the fact that even the most sophisticated geophysical methods cannot be entirely relied upon in this environment.

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Figure 38: Location of Laggan and Tormore Fields and the Shetland Gas Plant

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ECONOMIC REPORT 2014