History of exploration in the southern North Sea

Abstract

Abstract Exploration history in the Southern North Sea Basin extends back to 1858 in Germany, which was the centre of Europe’s oil industry for about a century, with a resurgence in oil discoveries from 1934 to 1945. This changed dramatically in 1963 with the realization of the immense size of the Dutch Groningen gas field. Core data indicated that the Rotliegend reservoir extended westward into the southern North Sea. Between December 1965 and October 1966, five major gas discoveries totalled reserves of almost 20 tcf, sufficient to saturate the UK monopoly market. By 1969, with cheaper seismic ships and a billion barrel oil field in Norwegian waters, UK exploration activity shifted to the central and northern North Sea. The UK southern North Sea became a backwater until about 1981 when, with a pending shortage, British Gas encouraged renewed activity by increasing the price for new gas, the Carboniferous soon becoming an exploration target. Meanwhile, exploration in the Dutch land and offshore, and German land areas resulted in a steady stream of gas discoveries and some oil derived from Liassic source rocks, both enhanced by the later use of 3D seismic data.