The first well to be drilled into the ground, specifically for the purpose of extracting mineral oil,
was drilled in the United States in 1859.
This is the term used to describe mineral oil in it's raw state as recovered from the earth.
CLEETHORPES, 1997
Fifty tons of crude oil were released by a Norwegian tanker in the Humber estuary after a fire in it's engine room on January 3rd, 1997. The resulting oil slick has washed ashore at Cleethorpes beach and the North East Lincolnshire County Council who are leading the clean-up operation are "fighting against the clock" to clear the spill. TT19961224
MOROCCO, 1989
An Iranian oil tanker spilt 168 million litres of crude oil off the Atlantic
coast of Morocco on Christmas Eve (December 24th) in 1989.
© D. Sherry
ISBN 0 906287 17 0
Preface to Second Edition
In this second edition, the author has made reference to the continuing explorations for oil,
particularly in the area of Wytch Farm. At the same time mention is made of the arguments
put forward in regard to the detrimental effects the exploitation of the oil could have on
the environment.
Oil in Dorset is National News today; however, it is by no means a new industry, alhtough until
some forty years ago it was quite a different manifestation, and centered upon the shale deposits
at Kimmeridge.
The earliest attempt to commercialise the shale began in January 1848 when the Bituminous Shale
Company was registered to produce paraffin wax and other manufactures; the shale had to be transported
to the Company's factory in Weymouth. Litigation regarding the infringement of patent rights in the
process used, together with a nuisance action relating to offensive smells which were given off in
the process, resulted in heavy costs to the Company which was wound up in 1854.
A new firm, Ferguson and Muschamp, was formed in 1855 to take over the workings. This Company used a
different process, at a works at sandford, near wareham. In its turn, this company failed in 1858, the
cheif product during its brief life having been fertilizer. Yet another company, Wanostrocht and Company,
re-opened the works, and through the interest of Marshall Pelisier, the french Ambassador, it obtained a
a contract to supply shale-oil gas for street lighting in Paris. A wooden pier was built at kimmeridge and
a light railway connected this to the mine shaft, some half a mile or so from the shore. Some fifty tons
of shale-oil a month were manufactured, together with 200 tons of fertilizer. In 1862 further financial
problems developed, which resulted in the Company being bought by the Wareham Oil and Candle Company, which
worked on a more restricted scale, and survived until 1872, when the Sandford works were destroyed in a
fire,and the Company had to be wound up.
In spite of this history of financial disaster, hope seems to have been ever present, for almost at once
the West of England Fireclay Bitumen and Chymical Company, recently formed in cornwall, proposed to
extract some 10,000 tons of shale a year from Kimmeridge, to manufacture into oil and bitumen at its
works in Calstock. The Company estimated a yeild of 32 to 40 gallons of oil from each ton of shale. By
1874 the Company gave up its Kimmeridge project, and indeed failed entirely in 1876. The last of these
early attempts to use the shale at Kimmeridge was made in 1876 by the Sanitory Carbon Company of Wareham,
but this was no more successful than the others. No further serious attempts to obtain oil in Dorset
were made for half a century.
October 21st is Trafalgar day. It was also the day in 1968 when the Kimmeridge oil well became the first
English oil well to yield more than 100,000 tons of crude oil. not much to boast about by world standards
admittedly, but nonetheless a record in Britain at the time. Today the Kimmeridge oil well still holds
the production record for individual land based wells in the country. But for how long, now that another
and much larger oil field has been discovered in Dorset?
Unlike the publicity that surrounds the present oil discoveries in dorset, the Kimmeridge development
attracted little publicity. even today the oil exploitation there does not obtrude upon the landscape.
This low profile intrusion upon the environment by the present oil well was the result of help provided by
the landowner, Major John Mansel, and by the various organisations whose aim it is to protect areas of great
natural beauty against industrial developments. As a result many holiday makers in and around Kimmeridge
are quite unaware of the donkey-pump on the cliff top of Kimmeridge bay which steadily brings oil to the
surface from a depth of some 2,000 feet.
Originally there were five wells in this area. The one that still functions - known officially as the
kimmeridge No.1 well, brings up about 400 barrels of crude oil a day.this oil is taken by road tanker to
the new rail terminal at Furzebrook in the centre of the Isle of Purbeck and on by train to the B.P. refinery
at Llandarcy in South Wales.
As early as 1935 Dorset attracted the attention of the oil explorers. Dr. G.M. Lees, then the
Anglo-Iranian chief geologist, felt that there was sufficient evidence of oil being present in commercial
quantities in the Kimmerdige area. he persuaded the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company to undertake research along
those parts of the dorset coast where various companies in the previous century had attempted to extract
oil from the shale beds in the area. From a survey of these oil-impregnated shales Dr. Lees was convinced
that an oil reservoir existed somewhere in the region. on 4th December 1936 an exploratory well was drilled
midway between Broad bench and Kimmeridge Bay. By february of the following year drilling was stopped, but
resumed in April. On 2nd July 1937 appeared the first piece of solid evidence that an oil rservoir
existed. A light oil was found in a core that was brought up from just under a thausand feet. Wth the
outbreak of war in 1939 all further exploration and research had to be suspended.
During the war an artillery range was set up on the Dorset coast and inluded much of the area where oil
exploration had been carried out. The exploratory well itself was now within gun range. A new site had to
be found for further tests to see if oil was present in commercial quantities. The spot eventually chosen
was about a quarter of a mile from the original well and at the western end of Kimmeridge Bay. Within a
month of drilling operations being started oil was struck at 1790 feet on 8th March 1959. From the
initial flow it was estimated that the output might reach around 700 barrels a day. Two other wells were
drilled nearby in the following year - one almost a mile east, the other a mile-and-a-half to the
south-west of the first. Further drilling took place about a quarter of a mile to the north-west of this
last well. From all these probes it was established that the main oil-reservoir lay to the south under
the sea bed, and that there would be sufficient flow of oil from the reservior to keep one pump on
permanent commercial production. This is the pump which can now be seen on the cliff top of Kimmeridge
and which started production on 16th January 1961.
This kimmeridge oil flow shows no signs of diminishing at the moment. How long it will remain in production
will depend on economic and technical factors as much as on the amount of oil actually present in the
oil reservoir. if this well were to clse down it would not mean the end of oil production in Dorset.
Seismic surveys directed at finding oil have been carried out, and are still being undertaken, in a number
of areas of dorset from Blandford to the Arne peninsula.
it is in the Purbeck area, however, that the most promising finds so far have been made, with oil
already being produced from wells drilled at Stoborough and Wareham. In 1964 oil was found on a site at
Trigon near Wareham, and since late 1970 a donkey pump has been extracting oil at this site. The most
exciting find to date has been the oilfield at Wytch Farm some 2.5 miles north-east of Corfe Castle
where, in 1974, oilwas tapped at between 3,000 feet and 4,000 feet. three further wells were drilled in
1975, and it was evident that this would be a commercially viable field larger than any other yet discovered
on land in Britain. In 1977 a new exploratory well was sunk to a greater depth and a further oil-bearing
stratum discovered.
It now appears that the oil reserves in this field may be comparable to those of the smaller oil fields in
the North Sea.
Originally it was estimated that the Wytch Farm field would yeild about 4,000 barrels of crude oil
a day; the deeper well suggests an estimated yield of 16,000 barrels, though further drilling will be
required to confirm this latest figure. A number of wells have been sunk but more may be required. Some
of the wells will be used to inject water to boost production, although initially the oil will come to
the surface under natural pressure. Later nodding donkey pumps - similar to the one at Kimmeridge - will
be needed. From the well sites the oil will be transported in buried pipe lines of 6 inches diameter
to a central gathering station, and from there to a rail terminal at Furzebrook. Rail tankers will then take
the oil to the Llandarcy refinery.
It is thought that oil will be produced commercially from this field for some 20 years. if the other
exploratory bores in the Purbeck area prove to be as successful as those at Wytch Farm thenoil will be
produced for a much longer period and on a larger scale than at present anticipated. From drilling
results analysed so far, Wytch farm's oil production is estimated to attain four times the original
estimate. This is because there has been oil found at a lower level; the extent of this new oil reservior
has yet to be established. Application has been made to drill more wells further east and on the
Goathorn peninsula; until this has been done the full potential of the oil field cannot be fully assessed.
To ensure that the beauty of the coutryside and the rich wildlife of the area are not unduly spoilt by
these developments, a close liaison has been established between oil producing concerns, the Nature
Conservancy Council and the Dorset Naturalists' Trust. Every effort has been made to limit the impact
of these developments on the environment of the region. The environmentalists, however, remain
unconvinced that the exploitation of the oil resources is worth the harm that will ensue if the projected
development takes place. They argue that the invasions by the various people and services involved in
the exploratory surveys, developing and supporting the oil wells and in all the ancillary services, cannot
but be harmful to the flora and fauna of the area. The mere fact that these aspects of Purbeck will at
least be disturbed, if not destroyed, in the areas researched and developed, could have harmful chain
effects throughout Purbeck. The aesthetic quality of the natural and man-made, or historical landscape
is also likely to be affected adversely, so it is maintained, by the intrusions of the various workings and
necessary transport developments.
However, the gas Council (Exploration) Ltd., as the operating company in partnership with BP, is
responsible for the drilling operations, and the Environmental planning Department of the Gas Corporation
working with those interested in conservation has seen that the siting, screening and landscaping of the
wells, the gathering station, the terminal and the routing of the piplines are such as to have a minimal
impact on the quality of the environment. The wealth of beauty in the landscape willtherefore continue to
be enjoyed while the wealth contained beneath it will contribute to the economical prosperity of the
nation.
| 1859 | | Drilling of the first well in the world specifically for obtaining oil (USA) | | BAAAGBZP |
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