Exploration and Production
Chevron produces crude oil and natural gas from the U.K. North Sea. The company's total daily production averaged 251,000 barrels of crude oil and natural-gas liquids and 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2008. The company's net oil-equivalent production was 106,000 barrels per day. Most of that production came from three fields.
- The Captain Field is operated by Chevron, which has an 85 percent interest in the field. In 2008, total daily production averaged 43,000 barrels of crude oil per day (37,000 barrels net) and 7 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (6 million net).
- Chevron is joint operator of the Britannia Field, with a 32.4 percent interest. Britannia supplies a significant percentage of the United Kingdom's natural gas demand, producing an average of 15,000 barrels of crude oil per day (5,000 net barrels) and 384 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (124 million net cubic feet).
- The Alba Field reached total daily production of 34,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2008 (8,000 net). Chevron's interest in the field, which we operate, is 23.4 percent.
Resource Development
Chevron expects to continue drilling programs on the Alba and Captain fields into 2011. At the Captain Field, new wells, primarily employing horizontal drilling, added 3,000 net barrels of crude oil per day in 2008.
In 2008, two Britannia satellite fields – Callanish and Brodgar – began production in the second and third quarters, respectively. These fields sustained a total maximum daily production of 50,000 barrels of crude oil and condensate per day and 225 million cubic feet of natural gas by the end of the year. Chevron holds nonoperating working interests of 16.5 percent in Callanish and 25 percent in Brodgar.
About 17 miles (27 km) to the west of the Britannia Field, the Alder high-temperature, high-pressure oil and gas discovery was being evaluated in early 2009. The project could be developed as a subsea development tied back to the Britannia platform; alternatives are still being considered. Chevron has a 70 percent interest and is operator of the project. Startup is expected in 2012, with maximum total daily production rates of 9,000 barrels of crude oil and 80 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Exploration
Chevron continues to search out new resources in the U.K. continental shelf.
Chevron and our partners invested some £160 million in its 2006–2007 West of Shetlands appraisal program at its Rosebank discovery, which is in 3,658 feet (1,115 m) of water. An exploration well in an adjacent structure was expected to be completed in second quarter 2009, and an appraisal well was planned for later in the year. Chevron operates and has a 40 percent interest in the project. Maximum daily production is projected to be 75,000 barrels of crude oil and 100 million cubic feet of natural gas. A final investment decision is planned for 2011, with first production projected for 2015.
Chevron has interests in more than 60 exploration blocks in the West of Shetland region and in November 2008 was awarded another eight blocks. The blocks, comprising three licenses, are located close to Chevron's existing acreage holdings in the Cambo, Laggan and Clair areas.
Chevron is one of the companies participating in the government-initiated West of Shetland Task Force that is looking at possible regional solutions to unlock the potential of this largely undeveloped area of the U.K. continental shelf. Chevron has been working with its partners and industry and government representatives on the task force to identify a technically and economically viable regional infrastructure solution that would enable development of these significant gas resources and therefore help unlock the long-term potential of the area.
Evaluation of Clair Phase 2 development alternatives also is progressing on schedule. Chevron holds a 19.4 percent interest in Clair, which started production in 2005.
Marketing and Retail
Refined fuels from the Pembroke refinery are distributed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. They also are exported to international markets, including the United States.
Located in southwest Wales, the refinery can process 220,000 barrels of crude oil daily, producing 17 different products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas petrochemical feedstocks. It turns out 3.5 million gallons of gasoline each day, which is about 50 percent of total production. This makes the refinery one of the largest manufacturers in northwest Europe.
In the past, the majority of crude oil sent to the refinery arrived from the Middle East and the North Sea. Now it also is imported from Russia and Africa in oil tankers. Upgrades and installation of special equipment allow the refinery to process difficult crudes, such as the acidic, heavy crude from the African oil fields of Chad.
There are approximately 1,100 independently owned Texaco-branded service stations in the United Kingdom, many of them equipped with convenience stores. A network of fuel terminals around the country keeps them supplied, with some terminals receiving their fuels by ship from Pembroke. Chevron- and Texaco-branded lubricants also are sold in the United Kingdom.
Industry and agricultural customers buy our products through some 30 distributors. Based in the United Kingdom, Chevron Global Aviation Marketing is a significant supplier of aviation fuel to international airports, such as London's Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester. We also sell marine lubricants and fuels. And the United Kingdom is the headquarters of our international gas-to-liquids division.
During 2008, the company sold its heating-oil business in the United Kingdom.
Updated March 2009