ABSTRACT
The first oil discovery in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) to satisfy the Ministry’s definition of “significant” 1 was made as early as November 1966 in Block 48/22 by the licence group led by Burmah Oil. At the time it was not regarded as significant and for many years was not included in the table of significant discoveries published by the Department of Energy. It remains the only significant oil/ condensate discovery in the Southern North Sea and has not yet been developed. The first commercial oil discovery was made in December 1969 by Amoco in the Central North Sea in block 22/18. For a long time this was referred to as the Montrose field, but, after separate field status was given to the structure in which the discovery was made, it became known as Arbroath. In the Norwegian sector the giant Ekofisk field was discovered in late 1969. This added much interest to UK as well as Norwegian waters.
