October 1, 2012

North Sea Oil

Field Summary
Report
The Armada Complex

MSc. Petroleum Engineering Course Requirement

NWAFOR OBINNA
INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING, HERIOT WATT
UNIVERSITY | EDINBURGH

Key Facts

ARMADA COMPLEX
Fields Drake Field
Operator BG Group
Offshore / Onshore OFFSHORE
UK Quadrant / Block UK022/05
Field Type GasCondensate
Discovery Date 1982/09
Discovery Well 22/05b- 2
Field Status PROD
SUSPENDED
Production Start Sep-1997
Initial Gas Reserve (bcf) 316
Gas Reserve at 01/01/2011 (bcf) 29
Initial Condensate Reserve 21
(mmbbl)
Condensate Reserve at 1
01/01/2011(mmbbl)
Water Depth 289ft

Fleming Field

Hawkins Field

BG Group
OFFSHORE
UK022/05
Gas-Condensate
1982/09
22/05b- 2
PRODUCING

BG Group
OFFSHORE
UK022/05
GasCondensate
1980/10
22/05a- 1A
PRODUCING

Sep-1997
1026
156
47

Sep-1997
21
0
3

289ft

295

76.42%
23.58%

76.42%
23.58%

Ownership
BG Group 76.42%
Centrica 23.58%

Fig.5 Sourced from:DECC (2012), Wood-Mackenzie (2012)

Contents
Key Facts.................................................................................................................................................. 1
1

Introduction: Location and Ownership ........................................................................................... 3

Exploration and Appraisal ............................................................................................................... 5

2.1

Geology ................................................................................................................................... 5

2.2

Exploration and Appraisal ....................................................................................................... 5

Development................................................................................................................................... 7

Production History .......................................................................................................................... 8

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 10

References............................................................................................................................................. 10

THE AMARDA COMPLEX

1 Introduction: Location and Ownership
The Armada refers to several oil fields located in the Central North Sea region, within the UK Sectors.
This is about 250 km East of Aberdeen, around latitude 58oN and Longitude 1.9oE. This area is also
called the Greater Armada Region.

Fig.1 Source: Wood-Mackenzie (2012)

Fig.2 Source: BG-Group (2012)

Specifically, the Armada field are three gas condensate fields namely, Hawkins discovered in 1980,
Drake discovered in 1982, and Fleming which was discovered in 1987 (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). They
are named after the British Sailors who fought the Spanish Armada of 1588, together they are called
the Armada complex. These fields are in blocks 16/29A, 16/29C, 22/5A and 22/4a (DT). The blocks
were awarded as shown in table 1 below.
Armada Complex Blocks
Block
Operator
Award Year
22/5a BP Amoco 1965
16/29a Philips
1970
22/4a Philips
1980
22/5b BG
1980
16/29c Philips
1987
Table 1: Adapted from Stuart (2003:129)

Three other fields Seymour, Maria and Rev have been developed from the Armada Platform (located
on block 22/5b, see Fig.2). While they are part of the Greater Armada Area, only Hawkins, Drake and
Fleming are referred to as the Armada Complex or Armada Field.
The Armada Complex was created when a decision 1994 by the owners to unitize them for the purpose
of joint and simultaneous development (Stuart, 2003:129). Subsequently, BG Group has the largest
share of the unitized field and is also the operator. The owners at the time of unitization are as listed
in table 2 below.
Unitization Partners for Armada Complex
Partners

(%) Armada

BG (operator)

45.27

Amoco (UK) Exploration Company

18.20

Fina Exploration Limited

12.53

Phillips Petroleum Company United Kingdom 11.45

Limited
Yorkshire Electricity Ltd

6.97

Agip

5.58

Table 2: Sourced from BG Group (1997)

Several acquisitions, exchanges and transfers have been done over the years, especially by BG group.
Currently, the Armada Complex is operated by BG Group (76.42%), with partners Centrica (23.58%).

2 Exploration and Appraisal

2.1 Geology
The Armada complex lies at the intersection of three grabens, the South Viking, the Witch Ground and
the East Central grabens (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). The triple junction later formed the Fish basin,
which was a major depositional centre during the early cretaceous period (Stuart, 2003:141). It is
believed that this depositional centre was the source area for the Armada hydrocarbons.
The Hawking and the Drake are sandstone reservoirs of Jurassic age, they are of the Fulmar formation
(Stuart, 2003:141). The Hawking lies at a depth of 3050m below sea level, while the Drake lies at
3350m from same reference. The two fields are capped by mud stones of Heather/Kimmeridge Clay
formation (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012).

The Fleming reservoir occurs at a depth of 2745m below sea level (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). It is also
a sandstone reservoirs, but belongs to the younger Palaeocene period. The reservoir rock is of
Maureen formation, while it is capped by mudstones of Lista formation (Stuart, 2003:142).

2.2 Exploration and Appraisal

Prior to the unitization of the fields in 1994, the various operators carried out exploration activities. In
1980, Amoco drilled well 22/5a-1 and tested gas in the area now identified as the Hawkins field (WoodMackenzie, 2012). The well encountered hydrocarbon in an upper Jurassic sandstone, and a thin
Palaeocene sandstone. The later was not tested. Superior Oil drilled well 22/5b-2 in 1982, and
encountered two hydrocarbon reservoirs, the first was the Drake, while the second was named
Howard. Howard belonged to the Palaeocene (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). Another well drilled by Philips
between 1986 and 1987 discovered the Maggie fields, a Palaeocene sandstone reservoir. (WoodMackenzie, 2012).
The first attempt at appraisal on the Armada was on the Drake filed. In 1983, Superior Oil drilled the
appraisal well 22/5b-4 and tested the two gas zones they encountered. Three other appraisal wells
(22/5b-7, 22/5b-8, 22/5b-9) drilled in 1984 were dry holes. (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). Amoco drilled
another unsuccessful Drake appraisal well in 1988.

Philips drilled appraisal wells 16/29C-7 in 1988 and tested the Drake and Howard fields. Wells 16/29A9 and 16/29C-10 drilled by Philips between 1988 and 1989 tested the Maggie filed. They helped in the
delineation of the fields (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). The rich geological information that came from the
various exploration wells in the late 1980s indicated that Howard and Maggie fields were the same
continuous accumulations (Stuart, 2003:140). A 3D seismic survey was completed in the area in 1992,
and led to the renaming of the Howard and Maggie fields as Fleming field in the same year.
The Drake appraisal (well 22/5b-4) indicated 35.1 mmcfd of gas and 1,840 b/d of 46 API condensate.
The Fleming appraisal (Maggie field in well 16/29A-9) indicated 30 mmcfd of gas and 1,500 b/d of 48
API condensate.
The Initial reserve estimates are as below in table 3:
Reserve Estimates for Armada Complex
Reserve Drake
Initial Gas Reserve (bcf) 316
Gas Reserve at 01/01/2011 (bcf) 29
Initial Condensate Reserve 21
(mmbbl)
Condensate Reserve at 1
01/01/2011(mmbbl)
Table3: Sourced from Wood-Mackenzie (2012)

Fleming
1026
156
47

Hawkins
21
0
3

3 Development
The development of the armada complex was dictated by two commercially important events. The
first is the unitization of the field in 1994, which allowed for joint development. Equities were allocated
permanently to the owners and were not subject to redetermination (Stuart, 2003:129). BG Group
was appointed the operator following the unitization. The second event was the development of the
Central Area Transmission System (CATS), a gas pipeline on which the Armada subsequently relied on
to evacuate its productions to Teesside. Following these and rather unusual commercial negotiations
for the time, the joint venture approval for the development of Armada was achieved in 1994 (Stuart,
2003:129).
The Armada was developed with a steel platform located between the Drake and Hawkins fields. It
has processing facilities, utilities and accommodation modules. The platform was completed in 1997
and was designed to carter for 21 wells. (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012).
The Armada fields were develop with extended reach wells. The phase one of the development drilled
five wells for the Flemings, two for Drake and one for Hawkins. The Hawkins well was not successful
(Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). These wells were drilled using the semi-submersible Santa Fe 135. Tie-back
and completion were done using the Jack-up rig Santa Fe Magellan in 1997. (Stuart, 2003:140)
The second phase of the development involved the drilling of three wells between 2001 and 2002.
Well 22/5B-A9 was drilled for the Flemings. Well 22/5B-A10 was drilled for Hawkins, being
unsuccessful, it was then completed for the Flemings. The third well, 22/5B-A11 was the first successful
well for Hawkins. (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012).
The gas, and condensates from the Armada complex are transported through the CATS lines. While
the gas is transported all the way to Teesside, the natural gas liquids and condensates are diverted to
the Forties Pipeline System for onward transport to refinery. (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). The export
compression system was reconfigured in 2005, to increase export capacity.
The first phase development of the Armada cost a total of 420 million pounds between 1994 and 1997.
Some 5 million pounds was spent on drilling in 1999. The second phase of the development from 1999
to 2002 cost 113 million pounds, while the export compression reconfiguration in 2005 cost 30 million
pounds (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). Altogether, the development cost on Armada complex stands at
563 million pounds.

4 Production History
Production in the armada fields started in 1997, except for the Hawkins field which had two
unsuccessful wells. Hawkins started producing in 2002. Production from Drake and Fleming peaked in
1999 at 512 mmcf/d.

ARMADA COMPLEX ANNUAL LIQUID

PRODUCTION
'000 BBLS
Drake

5000

Fleming

Hawkins

4000
3000

2000
1000
0

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fig.3 Adapted from DECC (2012)

ARMADA COMPLEX ANNUAL GAS

PRODUCTION
MMSCF
Drake

Fleming

Hawkins

120000
100000

80000
60000
40000
20000
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fig 4 Adapted from DECC (2012)

The field were closed in 2005 during the re-configuration of the export compression system (WoodMackenzie, 2012). The reduction in production from 2004 levels can be seen in figure 4 and 5 above.
Although Hawkins was successfully produced in 2002, the produced volumes have remained very small
relative to Drake and Fleming fields. The Hawkins reserves are almost depleted. The reserve estimates
for all the fields have been shown in table 3. The projected volumes shows that the armada complex
production would have thinned out by 2020. (Wood-Mackenzie, 2012). However, the life span of the
armada platform might extend beyond this period as new developments are tied to it for transport.

5 Conclusion
The

Armada complex fields represent a span of about 35 years in the UK oil industry exploration and

production activities. They are unique in being among the first UK fields to be developed using a fixedequity unitization strategy (Stuart, 2003:129). The use of extended wells and a single platform helped
it achieve a development cost of less than 3$ per oil equivalent, this being one of the lowest in the UK
oil industry (Stuart, 2003:129).

References
BG-Group (1997) Press Release: Armada Production Begins. [Online] Available at: <http://www.bggroup.com/MediaCentre/PressArchive/1997/Pages/pr-024.aspx> [Accessed 8 October, 2012].
BG-Group
(2012)
Armada
Overview.
[Online]
Available
at
:<
http://www.bggroup.com/ukinfrastructure/UK-Operations/Pages/ArmadaOverview.aspx> [Accessed 8 October,
2012].
Centrica (2012) News: Centrica Acquires Portfolio of UK North Sea Assets. [Online] Available at:
<http://www.centrica.com/index.asp?pageid=1041&newsid=2370> [Accessed 8 October, 2012].
Department of Energy and Climate Change UK (2012), UKCS Field Information. [Online] Available at:
<https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/fields/fields_index.htm> [Accessed 8 October, 2012].
Stuart I.A. (2003). The Armada Development, UK Central North Sea: The Fleming, Drake and Hawkins
Gas-Condensate Fields. United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields: Commemorative Millennium Volume, Issue
20. The London Geological Society.
Wood-Mackenzie (2012) The Greater Armada Area: Asset Analysis. [Online] Available through: Wood
Mackenzie Europe (UK) Upstream Services < http://www.woodmacresearch.com/cgibin/wmprod/portal/energy/energyPortal.jsp> [Accessed 8 October, 2012).