The South Morecambe Field, Blocks 110/2a, 110/3a, 110/8a, UK East Irish Sea

Abstract

Abstract The South Morecambe Gas Field has been developed as a seasonal supply field to boost supplies to the National Transmission System at times of peak demand. This mode of operation has led to a requirement for exceptionally high reliability in all aspects of the development. This requirement has prompted the generation of an accurate and comprehensive geological model so that reservoir performance can be predicted as reliably as possible, and that wells can be drilled in optimum locations. The exceptional shallowness of the structure (crest at -2400 ft TVSS, GWC -3750 ft TVSS), coupled with the need to drain the reservoir cost-effectively and to minimize the risk of well interference has led to the use of slant drilling techniques for the first time in European waters. The field is located in the East Irish Sea Basin. The Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Gp forms the reservoir, and the Mercia Mudstone Gp provides the seal. The reservoir sands were laid down in a rapidly subsiding basin under continental semi-arid conditions, and comprise a complex interplay of major channel-fill sandstones, secondary channel-fill sandstones associated with non-channelized sheetflood sandstones, and localized, very high permeability (> 1000 md) aeolian and reworked aeolian sandstones. A vertical organization of these facies has been observed, with some intervals dominated by channel deposition, others by non-channelized deposits, due to periodic adjustments of the whole basin, and this has permitted the establishment of a reservoir zonation. A complex diagenetic history is recognized, with several phases of dolomite and quartz cementation. Differential compaction is also a major control on the disposition of reservoir properties. The greatest control on permeability (but not porosity) is platy illite which formed beneath a palaeo-GWC at an early stage in the growth of the structure, and which gives rise to a diagenetic layering of the reservoir into a high permeability Illite-Free Layer and a deeper, low permeability Illite-Affected Layer. The data presented herein is based upon the results of development drilling on South Morecambe.