From our Collections...
Our first exhibit tells the story of the North Sea oil and gas industry, or to be a little more specific, the offshore oil and gas industry in the UK sector of the North Sea, known as the UKCS, on account of it's being on the UK Continental Shelf.
Our member points out that the first hydrocarbons from the North Sea were not from the UK sector, but were discovered offshore the Netherlands. The giant Groningen field was discovered in 1959, and it was only after this that attention moved to the UK and Norwegian sectors. In 1962 both the UK and Norwegian governments received applications to explore beneath their seas.
In the UK, gas was discovered before oil. The first field to come onstream was the BP operated West Sole field, from which gas was first produced in 1967.
The first UK oil field to produce was Argyll which commenced production in June 1975. The Forties field, the largest field in the North Sea, started producing in November of the same year, and continues to produce to this day. If interested, you can see a film about the Forties Field by clicking here.
