RE: WEST Newton19 Jan 2024 20:38
G Panther - and how did Wytch Farm start out? From nothing of substance and if this was today no doubt British Gas (who weren't the most enterprising or dynamic of state run companies of that time) would have been accused of wasting money. It took various organisations many decades to realise there was any oil worth exploiting. I followed the early days of WF with interest having been born and was brought up in the area and subsequently worked offshore. Despite centuries of history of oil shale lying around Kimmeridge beach (the Kimmeridge layer extends all the way up the North Sea and is a marker for all drilling operations). Similarly I worked on the Buchan Field for a while, operated by BP, which was originally discovered by the famous North Sea Oil (UK sector) entrepreur Algy Cluff in the 1970s, eventually producing oil from a floating production unit. That initially gave the clue to the huge Forties formation. Few for one moment realised what and how big such discoveries as nearby Forties Field would ultimately become so don't write off WN as never to compete with Wytch Farm. Wytch Farm was next to nothing in the early days (as was Buchan), other than the nodding donkey which predated WF and is unbelievably still producing oil close to Kimmeridge beach which is taken away by tanker. So don't write off the potential of WN in such a cavalier fashion,