The Buzzard Field

Abstract

The Buzzard Field is one of the largest fields to be discovered on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf in the last 25 years; it has a current reserves estimate of over 400 × 106BBL. It lies some 50 km northeast of the Scottish mainland and 20 km west of the Ettrick Field in a water depth of 300 ft.The Buzzard Field was discovered in May 2001 by well 20/6-3. This well encountered high quality 32° API oil trapped within a latest Oxfordian to Early Volgian age reservoir informally defined here as the Buzzard Sandstone Member. The side-track penetrated an oil–water contact at 9194 ft TVDSS, establishing a minimum hydrocarbon column of 750ft. The field was the subject of an appraisal programme in late 2001 and early 2002, with eight wells and side-tracks drilled to define the field extent. These wells, coupled with a continual improvement in the quality of the seismic data, have helped to reduce the uncertainty associated with estimates of the STOIIP and reservoir geometry.The trapping mechanism for the field involves a complex stratigraphic pinchout of reservoir sands within shales of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation. This is combined with a downthrown faulted closure against Palaeozoic rocks. The Buzzard Sandstone Member comprises base of slope, submarine gravity flow sands with excellent porosity and permeability characteristics.