Mittelplate
Encyclopedia
Mittelplate is Germany
’s largest oil field
which is located 7 km (4.3 mi) from the shore, in environmentally important Schleswig-Holstein
Wadden Sea National Parks
tidal flats. The development of the field was done by a consortium of RWE
Dea
AG
and Wintershall AG
. By the 20th anniversary of the start of production, 20 million tonnes of crude has been produced from the field. Mittelplate field holds nearly 65% of Germany's crude oil reserves
By the 1950s, geologist
s suspected oil off the German coast. Preliminary test borings in the 1960s did indeed turn up indications of oil, though not in economically profitable quantities. The oil crisis of 1973
and 1979
raised awareness of indigenous oil sources. In 1980 and 1981, test borings in the Mittelplate vicinity found oil in several sandstone layers. Due to location of the field in ecologically sensitive area, hydrographic, hydrodynamic and meteorological studies modelling storm, wave, ice-flow conditions were done and an artificial island holding a drilling and production facility was built in 1985.
s. A new redevelopment plan included the construction of a land-based facility in Dieksand from where 2000 m (6,561.7 ft)-3000 m (9,842.5 ft) long extended-reach production wells were to tap into the eastern part of the field. As per the development program, a pilot well and seven high-tech extended reach well measuring at 7727 metres (25,351 ft), 8284 metres (27,178.5 ft), 8367 metres (27,450.8 ft), 8995 metres (29,511.2 ft), 9275 metres (30,429.8 ft), 8450 metres (27,723.1 ft), 8672 metres (28,451.4 ft) and a 4 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) section cutting through the Büsum
salt diapir were to ensure a faster exploitation of the field. The redevelopment plan also included construction of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) pipelines from the island to Friedrichskoog
-Spitze and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) pipeline to the Dieksand Land Station. This will enabled the Mittelplate consortium to transport up to 1 million tonnes or 7550000 barrels (1,200,354,077.3 l) of oil a year. Oil is pumped ashore and water extracted during processing is then routed back by the second pipeline for reinjection into the lower section of reservoir. Modified island facility now contains living accommodation for up to 96 people.
Being an operator of the consortium, RWE Dea accounts for nearly 60% of total domestic oil production in Germany
Starting from October 1987, the field has been tapped in several sandstone layers at depths reaching 2000 m (6,561.7 ft)-3000 m (9,842.5 ft). The size of the deposit was adjusted upward to over 100 million tons, of which 15 million tons were extracted by June 2005. The annual production of Mittelplate Island amounts to 900,000 tons of oil. Under prevailing conditions, about 40 million tons are still economically extractable. Since 2000, nearly horizontal borings (some up to about 9200 meters long) have been extracting from the eastern part of the field directly from land on Dieksand / Friedrichskoog
. The oil is piped
from there to Brunsbüttel
and onward to oil refineries
in Hemmingstedt
.
along with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been active critics of the field development in Wattenmeer. The national park is home to nearly 4,000 species, 250 of which do not exist anywhere in the world but Wattenmeer. Up to 12 million migratory birds use the park rich of mussels, worms, snails, shrimp as a resting place. Nearly 200,000 shelduck
s are believed to gather around the Elbe river estuary each summer.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
’s largest oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
which is located 7 km (4.3 mi) from the shore, in environmentally important Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
Wadden Sea National Parks
Wadden Sea National Parks
The Wadden Sea National Parks, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are located along the German coast of the North Sea. Named after the Wadden Sea, they consist of three national parks:...
tidal flats. The development of the field was done by a consortium of RWE
RWE
RWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...
Dea
Deutsche Erdöl-Aktiengesellschaft
RWE Dea AG is an international oil and gas company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. It is a subsidiary of RWE. RWE Dea owns production facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and Egypt, and also holds exploration licences in Algeria, Ireland, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco,...
AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Aktiengesellschaft is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e. owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
and Wintershall AG
Wintershall
Wintershall AG is the largest crude oil and natural gas producer in Germany. The company is based in Kassel, Germany. Wintershall is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF, based in Ludwigshafen. The name Wintershall is derived from the surname of the enterprise co-founder Carl Julius Winter and the...
. By the 20th anniversary of the start of production, 20 million tonnes of crude has been produced from the field. Mittelplate field holds nearly 65% of Germany's crude oil reserves
History
The field was discovered in 1981 by well Mittelplate 1 which confirmed reservoir contained 75 million tonnes of crude oil.By the 1950s, geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
s suspected oil off the German coast. Preliminary test borings in the 1960s did indeed turn up indications of oil, though not in economically profitable quantities. The oil crisis of 1973
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and 1979
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
raised awareness of indigenous oil sources. In 1980 and 1981, test borings in the Mittelplate vicinity found oil in several sandstone layers. Due to location of the field in ecologically sensitive area, hydrographic, hydrodynamic and meteorological studies modelling storm, wave, ice-flow conditions were done and an artificial island holding a drilling and production facility was built in 1985.
Technical features
The island which is protected by 11 meter high sheet piling measures at 70 m (229.7 ft) by 95 m (311.7 ft). Western section of the field includes 18 production wells. The first oil came onstream in 1987 and was being delivered ashore on 45 metres (147.6 ft) long by 18 metres (59.1 ft) wide double hull bargeBarge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s. A new redevelopment plan included the construction of a land-based facility in Dieksand from where 2000 m (6,561.7 ft)-3000 m (9,842.5 ft) long extended-reach production wells were to tap into the eastern part of the field. As per the development program, a pilot well and seven high-tech extended reach well measuring at 7727 metres (25,351 ft), 8284 metres (27,178.5 ft), 8367 metres (27,450.8 ft), 8995 metres (29,511.2 ft), 9275 metres (30,429.8 ft), 8450 metres (27,723.1 ft), 8672 metres (28,451.4 ft) and a 4 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) section cutting through the Büsum
Büsum
Büsum is a fishing and tourist town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the North Sea coast, approx. 18 km southwest of Heide....
salt diapir were to ensure a faster exploitation of the field. The redevelopment plan also included construction of 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) pipelines from the island to Friedrichskoog
Friedrichskoog
Friedrichskoog is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the outflow of the Elbe into the North Sea, approx. 25 km southwest of Heide, and 25 km northeast of Cuxhaven....
-Spitze and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) pipeline to the Dieksand Land Station. This will enabled the Mittelplate consortium to transport up to 1 million tonnes or 7550000 barrels (1,200,354,077.3 l) of oil a year. Oil is pumped ashore and water extracted during processing is then routed back by the second pipeline for reinjection into the lower section of reservoir. Modified island facility now contains living accommodation for up to 96 people.
Ownership
The Mittelplate Consortium is operated by RWE Dea, but both RWE Dea and Wintershall AG have 50% share in the venture. Out of total capital spending of €670 million by the consortium, €100 million was spent on construction of the pipeline transporting crude oil ashore and €50 million was spent on construction of a new T-150 drilling rigDrilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
Being an operator of the consortium, RWE Dea accounts for nearly 60% of total domestic oil production in Germany
Production
Friedrichskoog
Friedrichskoog is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the outflow of the Elbe into the North Sea, approx. 25 km southwest of Heide, and 25 km northeast of Cuxhaven....
. The oil is piped
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
from there to Brunsbüttel
Brunsbüttel
Brunsbüttel is a town in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany that lies on the mouth of the Elbe river, near the North Sea. It is the location of the western entrance to the Kiel Canal, the eastern entrance being located at Kiel-Holtenau...
and onward to oil refineries
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
in Hemmingstedt
Hemmingstedt
Hemmingstedt is a German municipality in the district of Dithmarschen in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.-History:Hemmingstedt is the namesake of the Battle of Hemmingstedt, which took place south of the place in today's municipal area of Epenwöhrden...
.
Safety and environmental protection
The companies developing the field spent a substantial part of €670 million already invested over 20 years into industrial safety and environmental protection programs due to unique location of the field in Wattenmeer tidelands. Pipe-laying in the area and production in the field have been in accord with National Parks Law. However, GreenpeaceGreenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
along with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been active critics of the field development in Wattenmeer. The national park is home to nearly 4,000 species, 250 of which do not exist anywhere in the world but Wattenmeer. Up to 12 million migratory birds use the park rich of mussels, worms, snails, shrimp as a resting place. Nearly 200,000 shelduck
Shelduck
The shelducks, genus Tadorna, are a group of large birds in the Tadorninae subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans....
s are believed to gather around the Elbe river estuary each summer.
External links
- Mittelplate official website
- Bird's-eye view of the Mittelplate drilling island
- Further information from the broadcast Quarks & Co on 25 May 2004