MariaLardi » thesis

Pedestrian Bridge Proposal – New Route

MariaLardi — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:50:10 +0000

Filed under: * [ PG. DIPLOMA ARCH. DES. : UNIT 10 ] – Poole Harbour, Naval Home Tagged: access, architecture, design, design proposal, landscape, movement, new route, pedestrian bridge, poole harbour, project, proposal, proposition, thesis, thesis design development, views

Stage: Concept

MariaLardi — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:20:10 +0000

Filed under: * [ PG. DIPLOMA ARCH. DES. : UNIT 10 ] – Poole Harbour, Naval Home Tagged: architecture, collage, concept stage, design development, goathorn point, infrastructure, masterplanning, oil well, poole harbour, renders, Rhino, thesis, thesis design, urban

Oil Wells Research and Mapping

MariaLardi — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:29:46 +0000

Is There More Oil Around Poole Harbour?

OIL bosses are targeting more than 100 million barrels of crude worth some £6 billion at onshore sites across Dorset and Hampshire, including areas to the south of Poole Harbour. Australian firm, Norwest, has joined forces with UK outfit, Wessex Exploration on a project that could see drilling at seven sites across an area known as the Wessex Basin, which stretches from the Dorset-Hampshire border to Poole. The two firms jointly own seven petroleum exploration and development licences (PEDL) including three to the South of Poole Harbour. Peter Munachen, the chief executive of Norwest, said: “The resource evaluation has determined that every one of these leads has the potential to exceed the minimum threshold of 400,000 barrels of oil. “The confirmation of leads is a major advance and indicates the potential for multiple drillable prospects within our permits. “Although the lead sizes are considerably smaller than the giant Wytch Farm field, the proximity of our leads to Wytch Farm, together with commercial thresholds in the 400,000 barrel range, indicates the changes of achieving future commercial success are significant.”
Angela Pooley, co-ordinator for East Dorset Friends of the Earth, warned that the discovery should not lull people into a false sense of energy security. “This certainly shouldn’t mean that we should stop thinking that we need to reduce our oil use. “These reserves should be seen absolutely as a last resort,” said Mrs Pooley. Much of the environmental impact would depend on how the company intended to extract and transport the oil, she added. Imogen Davenport, the director of conservation at the Dorset Wildlife Trust, said any new exploration should follow the precedent for ecological sensitivity set by BP’s Wytch Farm development. “They have taken an ecological management strategy to protect sensitive wildlife areas and we would clearly encourage anyone else thinking of drilling there to do the same,” said Ms Davenport.
What do the Locals say?
- “ does that mean petrol and diesel prices in Dorset will be coming down ,,, ha ha ha ”
- “And no doubt the race is already on to waste the huge amounts of revenue this oil mine will generate..another lifting bridge perhaps… ”
- “ Gosh, let’s all hope that it is true!
After all, if we have enough oil derricks and nodding-donkeys, we won’t have to put up any of those nasty Wind Turbines 12 miles out at sea will we? The potential ecological contamination and pollution from the oil business has been scientifically proven to be far more acceptable that the visual pollution of those disgusting Wind Turbines… …which would be – you know – almost undetectable to the naked eye at 12 miles distance from the shore. At least Dorset-CPRE and DART will be jumping for joy. More Oil Less Wind, God Bless Us One and All! ”
- “ Sounds like the owners of Brownsea Island – Furzey Island – Green Island – .Long Island – .Round Island – Giggis Island – Drove Island – Pergin’s Island – Stone Island in Poole Harbour will be the next oil billionaires, which will mean Poole and surrounding areas will become even more costly to live for the indigenous Poole residents. Don’t worry about environment issues, money talks!! ”
- “ ts all very well finding the valuable reserves of Oil and also the huge new Gas and Oil find off the ‘Isle of Wight’ but will ‘Joe Public’ feel benefit at all? The answer is most likely ‘NO’ as the reserves will be sold and Utility Bills and fuel prices go through the roof. Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk

Beneath the South Haven and the North Haven Peninsula are important reserves of oil that are part of the Wytch Farm Oilfield. This oilfield is one of the largest onshore in northwest Europe, and is noted for its excellent record regarding the environment (BP have awards for this) and concealment.
It is in the forests on the south side of Poole Harbour and almost hard to find! Part of the distribution of one of the reservoirs is shown on the map here. It is not actually a coincidence that the harbour entrance is so neatly positioned in relation to this reservoir. Why is this? Clues – Cretaceous highs,
Alpine inversion, buried river channel. The lower reservoir which is the Sherwood Reservoir in the Sherwood Sandstone of Triassic age, was found in 1978. Exploration has progressively pushed the limits of this reservoir eastward and extraction now takes place not only in the Poole Harbour area but
out to sea off Bournemouth. This is now done by an extended-reach borehole (horizontal and even upward drilling) from Goathorn Peninsula to somewhere off Bournemouth Pier. At one time there was a plan to build an artificial island on Hook Sand, offshore to the northeast of the South Haven
Peninsula. There were protests regarding this and no developments in drilling technology proved it to be unnecessary. Now extraction of oil in Poole Bay is taking place without any oilfield facilities being visible (except at Goathorn). The environmental study in relation to this is in the excellent report
commissioned by BP, the “Hook Island – Poole Bay – Private Bill – Environmental Study” (BP, 1991) .
Notice, incidently, that there are at least two wells under the South Haven Peninsula. These are not visible because these are merely the locations of the bottoms of deviated wells which bend eastward underground from a well-site on Goathorn Peninsula. Deviated drilling is extensively used at the
Wytch Farm Oilfield and few wells proceed down vertically.
There have been no oil-spills from the Wytch Farm oilfield that have affected the South Haven Peninsula and it is very unlikely that the oil wells would affect this. Shipping accidents are a greater threat but no large oil tankers enter Poole Harbour. Extraction of oil from the reservoirs is controlled by
reservoir engineers. Production rates and pressures in the reservoirs are regulated. In the upper reservoir, in particular, there is water-injection or the pumping down of water from Cleavel Point, Poole Harbour to maintain high pressures for extraction. The oil and associated gas in these reservoirs, is,
of course, held in interstitial pore spaces between sand grains and not in an “oil lake” as some members of the general public sometimes think. Thus the removal of the oil does not cause major subsidence. Pressures may eventually be lowered as gas under high pressure is removed, although this is
under the reservoir engineers’ control. Brine of higher density inevitably progressively replaces oil and gas of lower density in the reservoir rock and this will change the stratal conditions under the South Haven Peninsula to a limited extent. Although the precise consequences of this are difficult to
calculate and will only be known to the specialists of the oil industry, no large subsidence of the surface should take or have taken place and any slight depression, if there is any at all, may be difficult to detect. Although this is one of the many topics to be considered with regard to the future of the
South Haven Peninsula, oil-extraction may not have a major effect, and probably less than the building of sea-defences at Bournemouth, the construction of the Training Bank, the dredging of the Swash Channel and its use by large ships, increased public use of the area, and the recent increase in rise
of sea-level. Hook Island, if it had been built, might have had some consequence. It is to be noted, of course, that had there not been environmental interest and concern by the public and general improvement in environmental methods and protection, by now the South Haven Peninsula would have
been a mass of houses and yachting marinas with a few oil installations in between them.

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Studland-Poole-Harbour-Side.htm

The Wellsites are located mostly over the productive area of the Bridport Reservoir, the first major reservoir known. In the past, problems have arisen in trying to obtain wellsites closer to the large part of the major herwood Sandstone Reservoir in Poole Bay, further east. A proposed Wellsite J was opposed by the Nartional Trust. The Plan for the Artificial Hook Island was strongly opposed. The problem was solved by the succesfull
Extended Drilling Rig at Wellsite M on Goathorn Peninsula. This has drilled out extensively eastward under Shell Bay and Sandbanks into Poole Bay south of Bournemouth. The Map is Based on Legg (1987) and recent BP brochures.

Notes :
Oil is piped to Southampton Water. Gas is piped to Sopley
Exports are 25000 barells of oil per day
Largest known onshore oilfield in NW Europe
65 producer and injector wells are active
About 85% of oil reserves are in the Sherwood Reservoir

Wytch Farm
Wytch Farm is located in Dorset approximately 17 miles from Poole, 6 miles from Wareham. Wytch Farm oil field comprises three separate oil reservoirs that lie under Pool harbour and Poole Bay in Dorset; The Bridport reservoir is 900 metres below the surface and lies above the Sherwood reservoir, which extends eastwards under Poole Bay at a depth of 1600 metres. Further exploration discovered the 7.5 million barrel Frome reservoir in clay/limestone at 750 metres.
Total estimated recoverable reserves have risen to 480 million barrels of which over 90% lie in the Sherwood reservoir making it the sixth largest in the UK. Wytch Farm has been developed by BP to be Western Europe’s largest onshore oil field in one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the UK. It is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, featuring:
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). / Special Protection Areas. / World Heritage Coastline. / Ramsar sites (designated wetlands of international importance, as agreed at Ramsar, Iran, 1971). / National Trust land. / National Nature Reserves
This is achieved through close co-operation and openness with the surrounding communities. Tourism around Poole harbour and the Isle of Purbeck is a major provider of income to the area and it has been important to ensure no adverse effects on the amenity use of the area during any of the development phases. Local liaison committees were formed to consult fully with all statutory and non-regulatory bodies and local residents are kept informed of relevant activities.
The Development
The development has been in three phases; it has a total of 80 wells.
Facilities include: A gathering station. / A sea water-pumping station. / Infield pipelines for transporting the product from the wellsites to the gathering station. / An export pipeline or the crude oil.
A crude oil storage and loading facility at Hamble on Southampton Water.
Export
The heart of the project is to be found at Wytch Heath. This is the site of the gathering station where the crude oil and liquid petroleum gases (LPGs) from the reservoirs are separated. LPG is stored in 12 large steel vessels before being exported by road tanker to Terminals and Customers throughout the country.
A 16-inch diameter pipeline exports 25,000 barrels of equivalent oil per day , 91 kilometres via the Fawley refinery across Southampton Water to Hamble oil terminal. Here it is stored in five tanks before being exported by tankers of up to 110,000 tonnes.At the gathering station there is a parallel 48 kilometre, 8-inch diameter pipeline that was laid by BP on behalf of British Gas. It exports 1 million cubic feet a day of methane produced by the oilfield to Sopley, north of Christchurch, for feeding into the main domestic gas trunkline system.
Environmental considerations
As a result of the area’s ecological important, BP vigorously applied its environmental protection policy. It instituted a monitoring programme covering 23 studies from archaeology and seabed ecology to surveys of the wintering bird population, reptile communities and the red squirrel colony on Furzey Island and the distribution and health of heathland, reed beds and saltmarshes. The results of these surveys were vital in determining both how to develop the oilfield, and in providing baseline data against which BP could monitor its performance.
Extended reach drilling
Initial development plans proposed an artificial island in the bay to access the furthest parts of the Sherwood reservoir. However, by pursuing advances in drilling technology coupled with considerable environmental and economic benefits, BP were able to drill the wells from an onshore site in the Goathorn peninsula.
In recent years, BP have been foremost in significant advances in extended reach drilling techniques, such as:
The development of rotary steerable tools to control the wellbore trajectory at distances of over 10 kilometres.
Active management of drilling torque and drag.
Since embarking in April 1993 on the third phase of development from the onshore site at Goathorn Peninsula, Wytch Farm has established a number of drilling world records including:
The horizontal displacement distance of the extended reach wells.
Well M16 set a new world record when it broke the 10 kilometre barrier in June 1999 reaching a horizontal displacement distance of 10728m, a total length of 11278m and a depth of 1638m.
The choice of Wellsite M
As part of the planning requirements for the well site M on Goathorn Peninsula an Environmental Statement and non-technical summary were produced. Throughout the process of selecting and designing the site, the proposals were discussed with a working partyof statutory consultees set up by Dorset County Council to advise BP on environmental issues.
Four sites were investigated for their ecological value, archaeological potential and noise issues. Well site M (as it became known), situated to the north of well site F, was chosen. Although this site is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a potential Special Protection Area (SPA) designated to satisfy the EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds, it was demonstrated through scientific studies that the actual area of the proposed well site was not of unique ecological value. Once well site M was established as the preferred location, more details environmental studies were instigated and the Environmental Statement written to reflect the potential environmental effects of such a development.
The Queen’s Award 95
The Wytch Farm Development won The Queen’s Award for Environmental Achievement 1995 in acknowledgement of the innovative, technologically challenging and environmentally beneficial manner in which the offshore section of the Sherwood reservoir is being developed.
Landscape and Visual Assessment
Sensitive treatment of the development, the majority of which lies on the southern shores of Poole Harbour, was vital. Photomontages and computer-generated perspectives from six pre-determined viewpoints were considered in detail to assess the likely visual impact of the development.
Careful consideration was given to the levels, shape and general arrangement of the developed area and the citing of the operating equipment. The various above ground permanent components were designed to blend into the existing landscape.
Electrical sub-station / Firewater tank / Accommodation and lay down / Access roads / Security and screen fencing
During the temporary drilling phase of the development, certain components of the drilling rig and associated equipment are visible above the tree line but these will be removed at the end of the drilling programme.
BP manages an area of land around the site in order to integrate the site into the Purbeck countryside and to ensure that due consideration is given to the ecology of the area for the life of the oilfield. A Land Management Plan, approved by the Mineral Planning Authority, details the ongoing management of all the developed sites at Wytch Farm.
Ecology
Detailed studies on the ecology of the proposed development area looked at the plants, reptiles, birds, insects and badger population in detail. From this information a detailed picture of the ecology of the peninsula was gained. The Goathorn Peninsula, on which are situated two important well sites, contain areas of remnant heathland which support a rare and interesting flora and fauna, including sand lizards, nightjar and the heather; Dorset Heath.
The area has management potential for conversion back to prime heathland habitat. Agreement was reached between BP, the Dorset County Council, the landowner and Natural England for BP to manage approximately 64 acres of Goathorn for nature conservation over the life of the oilfield.
Noise
The drilling rig and ancillary equipment had a comprehensive noise-control package installed to meet the strict noise criteria imposed by Dorset County Council.
Other environmental considerations
Regular atmospheric monitoring around the existing oilfield facilities, together with the observations of lichens on nearby trees, indicate that the air quality around existing well sites and the gathering station generally suffers no adverse impacts from BP’s activities in the area.Groundwater around the sites is protected from pollution by good engineering and design with rigorous implementation of pollution control measures during construction and drilling. Regular monitoring of groundwater in the area by the use of a borehole (installed in advance of any construction) provides an accurate record of ground water quality. Contingency planning for pollution risks has been of paramount importance in this sensitive location.
Kimmeridge
Small quantities of oil (about 65 barrels a day) are still being produced from a well site on the cliffs at Kimmeridge a few miles west of Swanage. This accumulation is located in a licence granted solely to BP many years before Wytch Farm was discovered and production began in 1960. The oil is taken by road tanker to the gathering station at Wytch Farm.
Wareham oilfield
This underlies the town of Wareham. Two producing wellsites (WC and WD) are located to the west of the town at Worget. WC has 5 producing wells and 2 injection wells; WD has 2 producers and 2 injectors. Wareham is a separate oilfield from Wytch Farm. It was discovered in 1964 but was not brought into production until 1991. It currently produces about 300-400 barrels of oil a day which is taken by small diameter pipeline to the main gathering station about 10 kilmetres away and processed with oil from the Wytch Farm well sites. The Bridport sandstone from which the Wareham oil is produced, contains reserves of about six million barrels but is not physically connected to the Wytch Farm oilfield’s Bridport reservoir. In terms of onshore oilfields in the UK, Wareham is quite big but the scale of its larger neighbour has overshadowed its significance. Wytch Farm oilfield comprises three separate oilfields that lie under Poole Harbour and Poole Bay in Dorset. Total estimated recoverable reserves are 480 million barrels, of which over 90% lie in the Sherwood reservoir making it the sixth largest in the UK. Wytch Farm is Western Europe’s largest onshore oilfield.