The Douglas Complex is a high system of three linked platforms in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

, off the

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

coast. The Douglas

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

was discovered in 1990, and production commenced in 1996. Now operated by

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

, the complex consists of the wellhead platform, which drills into the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

, a processing platform, which separates oil, gas and water, and thirdly an accommodation platform, which is composed of living quarters for the crew. This accommodation module was formerly the Morecambe Flame jack-up drilling rig. The Douglas Complex is also the control hub for other platforms in the area and provides power for all platforms. It also offers recreational, catering and medical facilities for up to 80 personnel. Oil from the Lennox, Hamilton, and Hamilton North unmanned satellite platforms is received and blended at the complex. Fluids from the Lennox installation via the gas pipeline are treated on the Douglas installation in the 3-phase (oil, gas and produced water) Lennox Production Separator.PFD Separation and Stripping, undated Following separation, gas flows to the Offgas Compressor suction manifold. Oil is directed to the Oil Stripper where the liquid is stripped of sour gas using a

counter-current flow Countercurrent exchange is a mechanism between two flowing bodies flowing in opposite directions to each other, in which there is a transfer of some property, usually heat or some chemical. The flowing bodies can be liquids, gases, or even solid ...

of stripping gas. Produced water from the separator is directed to the Produced Water Hydrocyclones where hydrocarbon liquids are removed prior to overboard disposal. Well fluids from the Douglas Wellhead tower are treated in the 3-phase Douglas Production Separator. Gas flows to the Offgas Compressor suction manifold and

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

liquids are directed to the Oil Stripper, and water to hydrocyclones as described above. Oil from the Oil Stripper is pumped by the Oil Transfer Pumps via Fiscal metering to the Main Oil Transfer Pumps to tanker loading. Gas from the Oil Stripper is compressed and sent to the Offgas Compressor. Gas is sent through a

pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

long to a processing plant at Point of Ayr, in

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

, North Wales. After processing, almost the entire output is sold to E.ON to fire the combined cycle gas turbine

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

at Connah's Quay, on

Deeside Deeside () is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire on the England–Wales border, Wales–England border lying near the canalised stretch of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee t ...

, in Flintshire. Oil produced in

Liverpool Bay Liverpool Bay is a bay of the Irish Sea between northeast Wales, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside to the east of the Irish Sea. The bay is a classic example of a region of freshwater influence. Liverpool Bay has historically suffered from redu ...

is sent through another pipeline, 17 km long, to the Offshore Storage Installation, a permanently anchored

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

which acts as a floating oil terminal, capable of holding of oil. From the floating terminal oil is transferred to tankers approximately once every month.

References

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External links

Douglas Complex on AIS LiverpoolPetroleum Act 1998 giving location of Douglas Complex
Oil platforms Oil fields of the United Kingdom Irish Sea 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links