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The Kimmeridge Bay Oilfield, Dorset, UK Onshore

Article in Geological Society London Memoirs · January 2003

DOI: 10.1144/GSL.MEM.2003.021.01.80

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The Kimmeridge Bay Oilfield, Dorset, UK Onshore

J. G. G L U Y A S 1, I. J. E V A N S 2 & D. R I C H A R D S 3
1 Acorn Oil & Gas Ltd, Ash House, Fairfield Avenue, Staines, Middlesex T W 1 8 4 A N
2 B P Exploration, Britannic House, 1 Finsbury Circus, London, U K
3 B P Exploration, Sherwood House, Blackhill Road, Holton Heath Trading Estate, Poole, Dorset, B H 1 6 6LS, U K

Abstract: The Kimmeridge Oilfield is the oldest commercial discovery of petroleum in the Wessex Basin. The field was discovered
in 1959. The discovery well was completed for production and that same well continues to produce today, more than forty years
after discovery.
More than three million barrels of oil have been produced. Oil is trapped in fractured, Middle Jurassic, Cornbrash limestones
in an anticline. The anticline is a product of Alpine inversion tectonics. Moreover, the Kimmeridge accumulation is unusual inso-
far as it is the only inversion structure to contain a commercial quantity of petroleum and the only producing field in the hanging
wall of the Purbeck Disturbance.

The Kimmeridge Oilfield lies in Kimmeridge Bay on the south
Dorset coast. It is a shallow oil accumulation within a faulted inver-
sion anticline and it lies immediately to the south (downthrown)
side of the main Purbeck disturbance, which is the most important
structural feature in the area (Underhill & Stoneley 1998).
The field was discovered in 1959 and began producing in 1961.
It still produces from the same single well at a rate of 100 BOPD
and it has produced over three million barrels of oil. The 'nodding
donkey' above Kimmeridge Bay is a local landmark (Fig. 1) and
Kimmeridge is probably the most visited oilfield in the UK. Until
Evans et al. (1998), little had been published on the field other than
brief mentions in Brunstrum (1963) and Selley & Stoneley (1987).
Here we largely reproduce the Evans et al. (1998) paper.
The oil search that led to the discovery of the Kimmeridge
Bay oilfield began in earnest in 1935. In December of that year, the
first prospecting licences under the 1934 Petroleum Production Act
were granted to the D'Arcy Exploration Company. These licences
included 2227 square miles in southern England. Armed with their
experience of the whale-back anticlines of the Iranian Zagros Prov-
ince, Lees & Cox (1937) identified the Jurassic as the main target for
early exploration in southern England. The first structures to be
tested were large anticlines in southern England such as Portsdown,
Henfield and Kimmeridge.
The Kimmeridge Bay structure was explored as part of
D'Arcy's exploration for those licences awarded in 1935. Astonish-
ingly, exploration wells were drilled over a 35 year period in these
licences with the final well being drilled in 1980. The Kimmeridge
Field was discovered in 1959 and was developed under a Mining
Licence (ML5) granted in 1964. The field still produces under the
terms of that licence. Expiry is due in 2014. Between the years 1959
and 2000, six wells were drilled in Kimmeridge Bay (Fig. 2). A few
details for each of these wells are given below.
Broadbench-1
The petroleum potential of the Middle Jurassic Corallian limestones
(Fig. 3) in the Kimmeridge Anticline was first tested by well
Broadbench-1. It was drilled at the western end of Kimmeridge Bay
from 1936 to 1937. The well reached the Upper Corallian and found
an 'oblique joint in grey sandstone wet with light oil' at 252 m depth
in the Sandsfoot Grit. This show was not adequately tested. The
main objective, the Lower Jurassic, Bencliff Grit, which is oil im-
pregnated at outcrop near Osmington Mills 10 miles to the west
(Miles et al. 1993), was not reached because of mechanical diffi-
culties. Broadbench -1 was plugged and abandoned at 287m in the
Osmington Oolite.

Fig. 1. Photograph showing the Kimmeridge-1 well and Kimmeridge Bay. Photograph taken from the central part of Kimmeridge Bay looking NW. Inset
picture shows 'nodding donkey' on well head of Kimmeridge-1.

GLUYAS, J. G. & HICHENS, H. M. (eds) 2003. United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields,
Commemorative Millennium Volume. Geological Society, London, Memoir, 20, 943-948. 943
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944 J . G . GLUYAS
Broadbench-2 (Kimmeridge-1)
The Corallian was again the main objective of a second well on the
Purbeck Anticline. In 1950, an internal D'Arcy report recom-
mended that a well should be drilled to a depth of 760 m to test this
target. The well was also designed to investigate a high velocity layer
(which is likely to have been the Great Oolite) recorded on a seismic
refraction line along the northern flank of the anticline. However,
this well was never sanctioned. Further proposals to re-test the Cor-
allian at Broadbench was made in 1953 and again in 1956, the latter
date coinciding with a renewed phase of exploration in southern
England. The well was finally sanctioned. Broadbench-2 was added
to a programme for the Failing M. 1 rig. It was to drill several shal-
low exploration wells on the Weymouth Anticline. By the end of the
1950s, a tank firing range occupied the highest part of the anticline
at Kimmeridge Bay. Consequentially, a site was chosen just outside
the firing range on the cliff top in Kimmeridge Bay. The well loca-
tion was at the same structural elevation as Broadbench-1.
Broadbench-2 (renamed to Kimmeridge-1) was drilled during
February and March 1959. Core was cut in the Cornbrash Lime-
stone at a depth of 512 metres sub-sea (TVDss). Oil was recorded to
have oozed partially leached calcite veins within the core. Substan-
tial mud losses to the formation were experienced at 520 m TVDss.
An initial production test yielded oil at a rate of 30 BOPD. Two
acid treatments were performed after which the well flowed briefly
at 4300 BOPD. Following these tests the well was completed as a
production well in the Cornbrash. The original plan had been to
test the Oolites and the Lias but penetration of these horizons was
postponed until Kimmeridge-3 was drilled.
Kimmeridge-3
Kimmeridge-3 was drilled during 1959-1960, before Kimmeridge-2.
It was drilled to complete the programme intended for Kimmeridge-
1, by testing the Great Oolite, Inferior Oolite and Upper Lias, and to
further develop the Cornbrash. The well lies 762 m SW of Kimmer-
idge-1. During drilling, mud losses were encountered at the Top Kel-
laways Beds and within the Forest Marble. The well was cored
through the Cornbrash with heavy mud losses. A test of the Forest
Marble (559-575 m TVDss) produced 600 BWPD of water. Tests on
deeper formations were either unproductive or produced only water.
There were some oil shows within the Bridport Sands around 942 m
ET AL.
Fig. 2. Map of Top Cornbrash showing
well locations.
TVDss but tests could not be performed on this zone. The well was
plugged back and perforated within the Cornbrash. After three acid
stimulations, oil production from the Cornbrash was measured at
26.5 BOPD with 4.5 BWPD. An oil-water contact was observed at
535.5 m TVDss. The well was used as an observation well until the
end of 1992 when a further acid stimulation was performed and the
well was then put on production for a short time.
Kimmeridge-2
Kimmeridge-2 was drilled 670m to the east of Kimmeridge-1 in
1960. The well entered the top Cornbrash at 583 m and was termin-
ated within the uppermost Forest Marble. Mud losses occurred
within the Corallian, the lowermost Oxford Clay, Kellaways Beds,
Cornbrash and Forest Marble, indicating permeable horizons had
been penetrated. Tests conducted on sands within the Oxford Clay
produced 7.5 barrels of oil in 40.5 hours. After acid treatment, the
Cornbrash produced only six gallons of oil. The well was retained
as an observation well. Pressure measurements indicate that this
part of the Oxford Clay is in communication with the Cornbrash
reservoir.
Kimmeridge-4
Kimmeridge-4 was an appraisal well drilled in 1960 in a position
412m N W of Kimmeridge-1 to further appraise the anticlinal trap.
The well was terminated at 262 m TVDss owing to a mechanical
breakdown and was not tested. No mud losses were experienced. The
well was not sufficiently deep to penetrate the Cornbrash reservoir.
Kimmeridge-5
Following the discovery and successful appraisal of the Wytch Farm
Oilfield (Colter & Havard 1981), which lies only a few miles to the
northeast of Kimmeridge Bay, there was renewed interest in the pros-
pectivity of the deeper reservoirs in the area. In 1980 Kimmeridge-5
was drilled as an exploration well to test the deeper potential of
the Kimmeridge structure at Sherwood Sandstone level with the
Bridport Sands as a secondary target. The well was drilled to the
Aylesbeare Group (Permo-Triassic). Weak gas shows and minor
fluorescence were recorded throughout the Jurassic. The Sherwood
 Downloaded from http://mem.lyellcollection.org/ at BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd on September 21, 2015

KIMMERIDGE BAY OILFIELD 945

SUB-ERA, STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURI

Ma ERA I PERIOD EPOCH LITHOLOGY
UNCONFORMITY-BOU~
SUB-PERIOD
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY MEGASEQUENCES
0 QUATERNARY
ILl -~ PLIOCENE r
zi i i

s g
iii
MIOCENE (Not present)
m >.
z
O o:
N < OLIGOCENE
O
Z rr
: .:..-. ,.........,.. .,....... .:,.
:~:" ("~::."::~':'" '. Barton F. . . . tion

UJ uJ EOCENE
,:~.: .~,-}~ : :
: ~
:~.:::::~.:l
' " ' " " "~ : ~ ' :~--I Bournemouth &
TERTIARY
50--
C) P : :: : ,, ! :.'," ~ : ::..',.: ~.,, !:'.." :. r: .:'I BrackleshamG r o u p s
-~:: .'.~ :. ' : . ~ : : ' : . ~ : ] (Inc BagshotBeds)
MEGASEQUENCl

--r-- "-r-- "-r-- - ' r - " / London Clay Formation

"-r-- "-r-- -'r- / ReadingBeds
PALEOCENE ~

SENONIAN

CHALK GROUP UPPER

CRETACEOUS
0
1 0 0 -- i : i_,~.:. : UPPER GREENSAND&
0
GALLIC ' " ";:-;,.;"'.'~:::. i "):.! GAU LT
"~ 1 INTRA ALBIAN-
w LOWER GREENSAND ~.APTIAN
"~/'~/'~*/'~/-~J-~- ~ JUNCONFORMITIE

0l WEALDEN
GROUP
0 NEOCOMIAN
N I"CB ~ ~ PURBECK & PORTLAND
MALM .-r- .-r- "-r- "-r- BEDS
150 -- (J3) l"-r".-r--~.-r-~.-r-- ~ KIMMERIDGE CLAY FM
U.I L CORALLIAN GROUP I
r KELLAWAYS, CORNBRASH
OXFORD CLAY FM ~ - I FOREST MARBLE
o
m DOGGER ~ ' ' ~YMBR)
o0 (J2) ~ INFERIOR OOLITE
U)
< o. BRIDPORT
n- SANDS
LIAS ) "-r'- "-r'- -'t-- "-r- DOWN CLIFF CLAY
9J B . ~ ~ THORNCOMBE SANDS -
PERMIAN-
(J1) "..:..: . . . . - . , . . . - : . - : : . ... (.0 - - DOWNCLIFF SANDS LOWER
u) GAB ~ CRETACEOUS
200 -- 1--r-"-'---r--"~---r--~ --r-- 'r"i BLUE LIAS MEGASEQUENC[
-i-- "-r-- --r-- --r'-
~p~ "F WHITELIAS %-

O ~--~--A~ -r-A-r-
l
or) TR 3 ~ A--v-A--v-A--v--A MERCIA
or) MUDSTONE
I --r--A ~ - - ~ A --r-
<r GROUP
l
el,. "-r-" '-r- --I--

I- . ...:., ...... . , . . . . : . . ~ . SHERWOOD OTTER SST

~
ZECHSTEINI
! "~ ~ ' J ~ : ~ :

~
" 1 " - '-'1-" - 1 " - " - r -
~ --r-
SST GRP

AYLESBEARE
B P

250 - - "-r- "-r- "-r- MUDSTONEGROUP

Z EXMOUTH &
0 < C~
Z
DAWLISH BEDS
uJ EXETER VOLCANIC
N m ,,,O r. SERIES
w
0 a. o
W " VARISCAN
< UNCONFORMITY
_i ~ .
300 - - ~ z=
om Highly d e f o r m e d
>< '~
z z ~" '
Fig. 3. Stratigraphy of the Wessex Basin ;WO =~ PRE-VARISCAN
(ECONOMIC BASEMENT)
(from Underhill & Stoneley 1998).

Sandstone was encountered 453m deeper than prognosed at
2272.8 m TVDss. The sandstones had weak oil shows but reservoir
quality was much poorer than in the Wytch Farm Field.
Structure, trap and seal
The dominant structure in the area around the Kimmeridge Bay
Oilfield is a tight and structurally complex monoclinal faulted fold
known as the Purbeck Disturbance, (Fig. 4). The Purbeck Dis-
turbance marks the northern limit of Alpine tectonics. Specifically,
the monocline was created within Cretaceous chalk and younger
sediments that overly inverted normal faults that cut the Lower
Greensand and older sediments.
Kimmeridge Bay Field is unique insofar as it is the only
commercially viable accumulation known to exist in an inversion
structure within the Wessex Basin Basin (Hawkes et al. 1998). The
trap at Kimmeridge Bay is only poorly imaged on seismic surveys
(Fig. 5). Current opinion suggests that the trap is a simple faulted
anticline. The main seal to the Cornbrash reservoir is the overlying
Oxford Clay.
Reservoir
The main reservoir in the Kimmeridge Field is fractured Cornbrash
Limestone. Some reserves may also occur in fractured Oxford Clay.
 Downloaded from http://mem.lyellcollection.org/ at BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd on September 21, 2015

946 J. G. GLUYAS E T AL.

S N
Kimmeridge-1 Stoborough-1 Wareham-3
metres ENGLISH CHANNEL -. Purbeck Hills metres

~
0
~ , ~ , ~ e r ~,<.u
i di .,,a e Clay Fm

1000- - 1000

2000- 2000
issG>
3000- 3000

4000- - 40O0

Fig. 4. NS cross-section through Kimmeridge Bay Field showing the nature of the structural inversion, associated faulting in the hanging wall and the Mesozoic
extensional, tilted fault blocks in the footwall of the Purbeck fault (from Underhill & Stoneley 1998).

The Cornbrash Limestone is about 20 m thick and is a low por-
osity (tight), locally fissured limestone. Cores from Kimmeridge-1
and Kimmeridge-3 wells cover almost the entire section. Core anal-
ysis data indicate an average porosity of around 1% and virtually
zero permeability. Oil staining in core is restricted to the open
fractures. It is therefore assumed that production is from an exten-
sive fracture system developed within the Cornbrash and also in the
adjacent Kellaways Beds/Oxford Clay and the Forest Marble
(productive at Wytch Farm).
Abnormally low reservoir pressures characterize the Cornbrash
reservoir. These are well below hydrostatic pressure. The initial
pressure in Kimmeridge-1 was 400psi at 520m TVDss. This pres-
sure would be expected in a reservoir several hundred metres shal-
lower. Deeper formations are normally pressured. Brunstrum (1963)
suggested that oil may have been sealed in the fracture system prior
to Miocene folding and that the fissures were physically enlarged
during folding leading to reduced pressures. Some such explanation
is necessary since there is no history of recent burial that might
otherwise explain the pressures.
Source
In common with oil from the Wytch Farm and Wareham fields, the
oil was sourced from the Lower Lias (Selley & Stoneley 1987).
Geochemical analysis of these oils supports this. The Kimmeridge

Fig. 5. Seismic line running NS through the Kimmeridge Field. Well Kimmeridge 2 lies at SP 158.
 Downloaded from http://mem.lyellcollection.org/ at BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd on September 21, 2015

KIMMERIDGE BAY OILFIELD 947

0,60

0.50

.-~
"0 0.40

E
t-
O
/11
4~
3
o
IX.
0.30

/</ 'l
0 0,20

f ~'y.,
0,10 / 1/ f,

\ \
0.00
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year
Fig. 6. Graph showing average daily production v. time (from Evans et al. 1998).

0.60

0.50

'\
~u

o
0.30 ' / \ '\
fl_
'- 1
0 0.20

f
0.10 y~--\

0.00
0.00 0,50 ,00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3,00 3.50

Cumulative Production (mmstb)

Fig. 7. Graph showing average daily production v. cumulative production (from Evans et al. 1998).

Bay oil has a significantly lighter gravity (45 ~API) than Wytch Farm Development and production
oil (35 ~API), which suggests either that it was expelled from more
mature source rocks or that some fractionation occurred during The production history for the Kimmeridge Bay Field is shown in
migration. Figure 6. Production began in 1960 and the rate rose rapidly to
 Downloaded from http://mem.lyellcollection.org/ at BP Exploration Operating Co Ltd on September 21, 2015
948 J . G . GLUYAS E T A L.
250 BOPD, peaking at 500 BOPD in 1972. Production then declined
steadily to reach approximately 100 BOPD in 1986 at which point
it stabilized. Production continues at this rate today. Production
was initially by natural flow, gas exsolution drive. Artificial lift, in
the form of a beam pump ('nodding donkey') was installed in 1964.
Water production is minimal, however gas production has increased
gradually over time as pressure has declined.
The initial rise in production rate from 200BOPD in 1961 to
400 BOPD in 1972 was difficult to explain and led to many theories
about the amount of oil at Kimmeridge and its location. By 1975
cumulative production was 1.725 million barrels (Fig. 7) and yet no
decline had been seen.
Mapping at that time indicated closure over an area of 120-160
acres. The oil column was known to be 47-57 ft thick. Depending
on the porosity (including fractures) which they assumed for the
Cornbrash, various geologists calculated the area of closure re-
quired to contain the cumulative oil produced up to that time. These
estimates varied from more than 2500 acres (assuming 1% effective
porosity) to 250 acres (assuming 10% porosity). Each estimate of
reservoir led to a new theory to explain the disparity between the
mapped closure and that calculated from the reservoir behaviour.
The most notable theories included:
(1) Additional reserves trapped in an unmapped offshore exten-
sion to the Kimmeridge Structure at Cornbrash level.
(2) The presence of a more porous facies within the Cornbrash,
not penetrated by wells but in contact with the producing
wells through the fracture system.
(3) Supply of the Cornbrash reservoir from a second, deeper
reservoir such as the Bridport Sands, possibly by continuing
migration along faults
(4) The fissure system continues outside the Cornbrash into the
Oxford Clay (as shown by Kimmeridge-2) and is extensive
enough to contain all of the observed oil.
Some of these were discounted at the time based on available
data. For example communication between the Bridport and Corn-
brash was considered unlikely given their different pressure char-
acteristics (the Bridport being normally pressured). Subsequent
production has shown normal decline behaviour (Fig. 7) suggesting
that the reservoir contains a finite reserve. Based on the decline
behaviour, the ultimate recoverable reserve is now estimated to be
3.5 million barrels.
The increase in gas/oil ratio (GOR) through time is consistent
with exsolution gas drive (that is the formation of a natural gas cap
through pressure depletion). However, no gas coning is observed
in the Kimmeridge-1 well. It has been suggested that the increase in
production rate during the early years may have been related to an
View publication stats
increase in the G O R effectively lightening the produced fluids
thereby making them easier to lift (a partial natural gas lift).
If a gas cap has formed during production, as seems likely, then
this must be located outside the Cornbrash itself, probably in the
overlying Oxford Clay. Based on cursory examination of the data
now available, some combination of an extensive fracture system,
extending out of the Cornbrash, possibly higher effective porosities
and a larger structure than mapped onshore would seem to provide
a plausible explanation of the production behaviour observed at
Kimmeridge.
If the drive mechanism is assumed to be predominantly
exsolution-gas then the recovery factor is likely to be between 15
and 30%. Back-calculation therefore suggests that the stock tank
oil initially-in-place (STOIIP) is in the range 10-25 million barrels.
Thanks to BP Exploration Operating Company for permission to publish
this paper.
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