The company has been a leading presence in the United Kingdom's oil and gas industry for many years. Its downstream presence dates from the beginning of the 20th century and its upstream operations from the 1960s. In 1964, a Chevron and Texaco joint venture drilled the first exploration well in the North Sea. A decade later, the world watched when the Ninian Central Platform – at the time the largest object ever moved by humans – was towed into position some 100 miles (161 km) east of Shetland.
Some 20 years after its discovery, the Captain Field achieved first oil thanks to developments in precision horizontal drilling and utilizing downhole pumps in well bores. Downhole pumps are placed in well bores to pump fluids from within the well bore to the surface. Chevron continues to extend the limits of drilling technology and sand control with recent innovative wells that turn 200 degrees to reach previously untapped oil and gas.
Clair was discovered in 1977. It took almost 28 years, significant investment and technological advances to achieve first production in what was the largest undeveloped oil and gas field on the U.K. continental shelf.
In 1964, we opened our Pembroke refinery in southwest Wales. One of Chevron's seven major refineries around the world, Pembroke supplies the Atlantic Basin market with refined products. Its location boasts one of the world's finest natural harbors. Some 1,800 vessels dock at the Pembroke facility each year. The deep and sheltered waters provide one of the few ports in Europe that can accommodate even the largest tankers.
Health, Environment and Safety
Chevron's management system for improving safety, environmental and health performance is woven into every aspect of our operations.
For example, the Captain Field makes use of waste heat recovery units that significantly improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. And a gas export pipeline was installed to reduce flaring and allow importation of gas for power generation when the field ceases to produce its own gas. A similar gas pipeline from Alba to Britannia also has reduced gas flaring.
In onshore and offshore facilities in the United Kingdom, Chevron employs an effective behavior-based safety system known as POWER – Positive Observations Will Eliminate Risk. This observation system is essential to supporting safe behaviors. Encouraging workers to report problems without fear of reprisal improves the quality of observations.
In 2006, the Pembroke refinery completed a planned maintenance turnaround. In the process, employees clocked a refinery record of 6 million work hours without a day away from work.
The Economy and Technology
The Pembroke refinery engages about 500 employees and up to 600 contractors during service upgrades and maintenance periods. To train engineers of the future, Chevron is in the fourth year of a young apprentices program and also has an engineering scholarship program.
In the United Kingdom, Chevron employs about 2,000 people.
Besides providing jobs and capital investments, Chevron deploys the latest technology and training. At the Alba Field, for example, the latest "four component" seismic analysis technology used data recorded by sensors on the ocean floor to give a significantly clearer image of the field's reservoir.
The Alba Field employs a new technology to improve the quality of water produced during the production process. In August 2008, the Alba Northern Platform took another major step in its plans to reduce the environmental impact of its operations, reinjecting produced water into the reservoir for the first time. Prior to reinjection, the field's partners had spent more than £13 million since 2003 on measures that reduced the concentration of oil in produced water discharge to less than 10 parts per million, making Alba among the best performers in the North Sea.
Other technological firsts include the combined employment of horizontal drilling, gravel packing and gas-handling hydraulic submersible downhole pumps at the Captain Field. Increasingly complex, difficult wells are being drilled at the Captain Field, reaching areas of the reservoir that would otherwise remain inaccessible.
The Erskine Field, an unmanned facility, became the first in the North Sea to deal with extreme pressures (14,000 PSI) and temperatures (350 degrees F). Experience gained from Erskine was successfully applied to the Elgin/Franklin and Jade developments. Chevron holds 3.9 percent equity in Elgin/Franklin and 19.9 percent in Jade.
In 2007, Chevron established an energy technology center in Aberdeen, Scotland, to provide research, development and technical services for the company's worldwide operations.
At full staffing, the center employs 100 technology professionals at Upstream Europe's headquarters at Hill of Rubislaw in Aberdeen, complementing existing technology centers run by Chevron's Energy Technology Company in California and Texas. The three facilities provide research, development and technical support to Chevron's upstream, downstream, global gas and emerging energy businesses around the world. Locating a technology center strategically alongside Chevron's European operations allows faster deployment of technology solutions, provides new technology development opportunities and increases the pool of technical talent.
Updated March 2009