Clipper gas field explained

The Clipper gas field is a major natural gas reservoir and gas production facility in the UK sector of the southern North Sea. The field is located about 73 km north-north-east of Bacton, Norfolk; the Clipper production facility has operated since 1990.

The fields

The Clipper field was discovered by Shell in March 1968 in Block 48/19a, part of the Sole Pit area. The gas reservoir is a Lower Permian Leman Sandstone Formation. The field is jointly owned by ESSO E&P UK Ltd (50 %) and Shell UK Ltd (50 %).^[1] The field was anticipated to have recoverable reserves of 22.5 billion cubic metres (bcm).

In addition to Clipper, the adjacent fields produced natural gas to the Clipper facility. ^[2]

Clipper area fields!Field!Block!Date discovered!Reserves, bcm (note 1)!Original owner!Owner / operator in 2014

Clipper	48/19a	March 1968	22.5	Shell/Exxon	Shell
Barque	48/13a	December 1966	37.3	Shell/Exxon	Shell
Barque South	48/13a	December 1966	1.0	Shell/Exxon	Shell
Galleon	48/14, 48/19a, 48/20a	December 1975	40.40	Shell/Exxon	Shell
Cutter	49/9a			Shell/Exxon	Shell
Carrack	49/14b, 49/15a		15.0	Shell/Exxon	Shell
Skiff	48/20a			Shell/Exxon	Shell
Clipper South	48/19a	1982	13.4	RWE Dea, Fairfield, Bayern Gas	Ineos, Spirit Energy

note 1. Reserves are in billion cubic metres (bcm).

The Clipper, Barque, Galleon, Cutter, Carrack, and Skiff fields are named after sailing vessels.

Clipper South was owned by RWE Dea UK (50%), Fairfield Energy (25%), and Bayern Gas (25%). RWE Dea and Fairfield sold their interests to Ineos in 2015. The field is owned by Ineos and Spirit Energy.^[3]

Development

The Clipper field was developed by Shell as a central 3-platform bridge linked complex.^[4] Three further bridge-linked platforms were added later. In addition to its own gas, Clipper was designed to be a central hub to receive and process well fluids from the surrounding installations. Processed gas was transmitted by pipeline from Clipper to the Bacton Gas Terminal, Norfolk. The main design parameters of the Clipper area installations are summarized in the table. ^[5]

Clipper area installations!Installation name!Block!Coordinates!Function!Water depth, metres!Type!Production to

Clipper PW	48/19a	53.459167 1.731944	Wellhead	26	Fixed steel	Bacton via 45 mile 24” pipeline
Clipper PT		53.460278 1.732222	Production		Fixed steel
Clipper PC		53.537633 1.870256	Compression		Fixed steel
Clipper PM			Metering, compression		Fixed steel
Clipper PR			Risers		Fixed steel
Clipper PH			Accommodation
Barque PB	48/13a	53.601667 1.526694	Wellhead and production	22	Fixed steel	Clipper via 15 mile 16” pipeline
Barque PL	48/13a	53.571743 1.638452	Wellhead and production	23	Fixed steel
Galleon PM	48/19	53.535667 1.876458	Wellhead and production	28	Fixed steel	Clipper
Galleon PN	48/20	53.569622 1.921967	Wellhead and production	28	Fixed steel
Cutter QC	49/9a	53.695609 2.623801	Wellhead and production	35	Fixed steel	Carrack QA
Carrack QA	49/14	53.579560 2.792291	Wellhead and production	30	Fixed steel	Clipper
Carrack Manifold	49/14b	53.706317 2.867689	Manifold	31	Subsea	Carrack QA
Carack East WHPS	49/15a	53.673789 3.027539	Wellhead	31	Subsea	Carrack Manifold
Carrack West WHPS	49/14b	53.743256 2.842561	Wellhead	29	Subsea	Carrack Manifold
Skiff PS	48/20a	53.589292 1.891197	Wellhead and production	26	Fixed steel	Clipper
Clipper South	48/19a	53.446309 1.797583	Wellhead and production		Fixed steel	Clipper

Gas from Clipper South was originally routed to the ConocoPhillips LOGGS installation thence to Theddlethorpe gas terminal (TGT). When TGT closed in August 2018 a new pipeline was installed to route gas from Clipper South to Clipper.^[6]

As part of the Clipper development new pipeline reception facilities and process plant was installed at the Shell terminal at the Bacton gas terminal.

Gas production

Production facilities on the Clipper complex include bulk liquid removal, 5 centrifugal two-stage compression with a capacity of 2 x 200 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day).

Gas production from Clipper and the connected fields is summarised in the table, data includes the peak rate and the cumulative production over the period 1990 to 2014.

Gas Production!Name!Production start!Peak flow, mcm/y!Peak year!Cumulative production to 2014

Clipper	1990	1,109	1992	13,876
Barque	1990	2,244	1997	23,067
Barque South	2014			16
Galleon	1994	1,501	1997	19,887
Cutter	2006	466	2008	2,410
Carrack	2003	1,220	2004	6,262
Skiff	2000	1,339	2003	7,828
Clipper South	2012	587	2013	385

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Clipper field was as shown.

The production profile, in mcm/y, of the Barque field was as shown.

See also

• Bacton gas terminal
  • List of oil and gas fields of the North Sea West Sole gas field
• Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System

Notes and References

1. Book: Department of Trade and Industry. The Energy Report. HMSO. 1994. 0115153802. London. 30, 38, 51, 134.
2. Web site: Inventory of Offshore Installations. live. 5 December 2021. odims.ospar.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20211125041801/https://odims.ospar.org/en/maps/map-inventory-of-offshore-installations-2017/ . 2021-11-25 .
3. Web site: Clipper South gas field. live. 5 December 2021. www.offshore-technolog. https://web.archive.org/web/20121118013618/http://www.offshore-technology.com:80/projects/clipper-south-gas-field-north-sea . 2012-11-18 .
4. Clipper fact sheet Shell 2021
5. Web site: Oil and Gas UK – Field data. live. 5 December 2021. www.gov.uk. https://web.archive.org/web/20151027141611/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-uk-field-data . 2015-10-27 .
6. Web site: First gas from Clipper South flows to Bacton. live. 5 December 2021. www.shell.co.uk. https://web.archive.org/web/20200930230424/https://www.shell.co.uk/media/2018-media-releases/first-gas-flows-from-clipper-south-field-into-bacton.html . 2020-09-30 .