Piper oilfield

{{Short description|Oilfield in the North Sea}}

{{Infobox oil field

| name = Piper oilfield

| image = North Sea Fields Zoom north.jpg

| caption = North Sea Oil and Gas Fields

| location_map = North Sea

| location_map_width =

| location_map_text =

| coordinates = {{coord|58.28|N|0.12|E|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| relief = yes

| country = Scotland, United Kingdom

| region =

| location = North Sea

| block =

| offonshore = Offshore

| operator = Repsol Resources UK

| partners =

| contractors =

| discovery = 1973

| start_development =

| start_production = 1976

| peak_year =

| abandonment =

| peak_of_production_oil_bbl/d = 300000

| peak_of_production_oil_tpy =

| peak_of_production_gas_mmcuft/d =

| peak_of_production_gas_mmscm/d =

| peak_of_production_gas_bcm/y =

| oil_production_bbl/d =

| oil_production_tpy =

| production_year_oil =

| production_gas_mmcuft/d =

| production_gas_mmscm/d =

| production_gas_bcm/y =

| production_year_gas =

| est_oil_bbl =

| est_oil_t =

| recover_oil_bbl =

| recover_oil_t =

| est_gas_bft =

| est_gas_bcm =

| recover_gas_bft =

| recover_gas_bcm =

| formations =

}}

The Piper oilfield is a substantial North Sea oilfield covering {{convert|30.1|km2|mi2|frac=2}}. It lies roughly halfway between Aberdeen and Bergen, at the eastern end of the Moray Firth basin.Maher, C.E., Piper Oil Field, in Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade:1968-1978, AAPG Memoir 30, Halbouty, M.T., editor, Tulsa:American Association of Petroleum Geologists, {{ISBN|0891813063}}, pp. 131-133 Oil extracted from it is piped to Scotland, where it is stabilised at an oil plant on the island of Flotta, in the Orkney archipelago, while gas is shipped via the Frigg gas pipeline. In June 1975, the Piper Alpha oil platform was placed over the field in {{convert|144|metre|fathom|abbr=off}} of water, secured in place by 24 piles extending {{convert|144|metre|fathom|abbr=off}} beneath the seabed. The platform was designed for simultaneous drilling and production. Piper Alpha was the site of the world's deadliest oil platform disaster when it was destroyed by an explosion in 1988, with the loss of 167 lives. Piper Bravo was installed in 1992.{{Cite web |url=http://www.talisman-energy.com/upload/media_element/63/02/piper_2011.pdf |title=Talisman Energy information about Piper Bravo |access-date=2013-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125043129/http://www.talisman-energy.com/upload/media_element/63/02/piper_2011.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-25 |url-status=dead }} Talisman Energy acquired a controlling interest in 2000.[http://www.thepressreleasewire.com/client/talisman_energy/release.jsp?actionFor=340836&year=2000&releaseSeq=22 Talisman Energy February 9, 2000 Announcement]

Occidental Petroleum Corp., Getty Oil (Britain) Ltd., Thomson North Sea Ltd., and Allied Chemical (North Sea) Ltd., that later transformed into the OPCAL joint venture, obtained an oil exploration licence in 1972 and discovered the Piper oilfield in early 1973 after seismically mapping the area. Oil production started in 1976 with about {{convert|250000|oilbbl/d}} increasing to {{convert|300000|oilbbl/d}}. A gas recovery module was installed by 1980. Production declined to {{convert|125000|oilbbl/d}} by 1988. OPCAL built the Flotta oil terminal in the Orkney Islands to receive and process oil from the Piper, Claymore and Tartan fields, each with its own platform. A {{convert|30|in|adj=on}} diameter main oil pipeline ran {{convert|128|mi}} from Piper Alpha to Flotta, with a short oil pipeline from the Claymore platform joining it some {{convert|20|mi}} to the west. The Tartan field also fed oil to Claymore and then onto the main line to Flotta.[http://www.dbd-data.co.uk/bb1998/append11.htm pipeline dimensions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201074452/http://www.dbd-data.co.uk/bb1998/append11.htm |date=2016-12-01 }} Separate {{convert|46|cm|in|abbr=on}} diameter gas pipelines run from Piper to the Tartan platform, and from Piper to the gas compressing platform MCP-01 some {{convert|30|mi|km}} to the northwest.