The North Sea is one of most frequently traversed seas of the world and two of the world's largest ports are situated on its coasts. The North Sea is mostly renowned for its offshore oil industry; however it also supplies most of Northern Europe with fish, with over 230 different species living its waters. In particular Cod, Sole, Plaice, Mackerel and Haddock are fished commercially. These intensive and sometimes conflicting uses of the North Sea cause a number of challenges in maintaining a healthy and balanced eco system.
Most people consider oil in the region to have been discovered within the last 35 years; however it was way back in 1859 when the oil was first struck, in the Southern North Sea Basin above North Germany after initially drilling for coal. This oil find kick started the German oil industry, up until 1890 a further 100 well were drilled, of which 60 produced oil. Natural Gas was then discovered in the North Sea shortly after in 1910.
Then in August 1959 after five relatively quiet decades, a well drilled by Shell & Esso in Groningen, the Netherlands literally changed the Oil and Gas industry in Europe over night. The immense size of the Groningen field was soon realized. Geologists calculated it to be some twenty miles long with a capacity of 6 billion cubic feet per day, making it one of the largest gas fields in the world. After this huge discovery, commercial exploration in the North Sea truly got started.
Five further major discoveries totaling 20 trillium cubic feet were located in 1965, which was enough to completley saturate the UK market. By 1969 seismic ships were scouring the length and breadth of the North Sea in search of Oil and Gas. Then in the same year the Phillips Petroelum Company found the first billion barrel oil field, 'Ekofisk Field', in Norwegian waters.
Many imagine the North Sea to be a deep sea, however in actual fact it is relatively shallow. The North Sea is less than 30 meters in height in the Southern areas and rises to maximum of 200 meters in the Northern regions. The exception to this is the Norwegian trench which cuts through the North Western region, even though it is extremely narrow sometimes just meters wide in parts, it is 700 meters in depth in the region known as the Skagerrak
Popular opinion suggest that the UK's share of North Sea oil and gas is presently in decline, with reserves reducing at a fast rate 35 years after the the oil fields were initially exploited. There is however a growing body of opinion that contradicts this view, and suggests that proven oil reserves have been greatly underestimated.
The equivalent of 37 billion barrels of oil have been extracted from the UK Continental Shelf, leaving up to 25.5billion barrels still to be recovered. Industry experts firmly believe that the remaining reserves exceed current estimates by as much as a fifth. New technology and the rising price of oil mean that it is now economically viable to drill fields once considered too difficult or too remote.
Author Resource:
Looking for the perfect oil job? Then click: oil jobs
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")