oil drilling summer 202016 Jan 2020 20:27
PUDDLETOWN – PLANNING APPLICATION SOUTH WESTERN ENERGY LIMITED
PUDDLETOWN PILOT PRODUCTION WELL NOVEMBER 2019 3
Wytch Farm is the biggest onshore oilfield in Europe. It is a mature oil field that has been
extracting oil and associated gas from sandstone and limestone oil reservoirs in the Wessex
Basin since 1979. The Wytch Farm oil field comprises three separate oil reservoirs; the Bridport
and Sherwood Jurassic sandstone oil reservoirs and the Frome clay/limestone oil reservoir. The
Bridport Sands, lying 900m beneath the surface, was discovered in 1973. The Sherwood
Sandstone reservoir, situated at a depth of 1,600m, was discovered in 1978. The Frome Clay
reservoir, containing 7.5 million barrels of oil at a depth of 750m, was discovered later. Oil
production from Wytch Farm peaked at 110,000 barrels per day in 1997
SWELs proposed site was selected following the review of historical records. The proposed site
is in an area of known hydrocarbon accumulations with the Waddock Cross oil field lying
approximately 5km to the south-east.
Atomic Dielectric Resonance (ADR) testing has been undertaken on the SWEL site, the results
of which indicate the presence of hydrocarbons at the site.
From the results of geological modelling and ADR testing, SWEL are designing and propose to
drill a pilot production well to prove conventional oil production. A planning application is
being submitted to Dorset Council to facilitate the drilling of the well and production of oil
from that well together with road transport via tankers to the nearby Fawley Refinery.
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