Many of the production fields in which ExxonMobil has an interest are operated by another company as part of a joint operation. Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, an ExxonMobil subsidiary, is one of the largest investors in the UK offshore industry. Esso's investment in the North Sea is managed through a 50/50 joint operation with Shell U.K. Exploration & Production Limited. Shell is the designated operator for most of the fields in this joint operation. In the northern North Sea ExxonMobil has interests in around 19 fields operated by other companies. These include the Shell/Esso Brent field, one of the largest and longest producing North Sea fields, which first started producing oil in 1976. An innovative £1.3 billion project to redevelop the Brent field was completed in 1998. New technology has enabled the extraction of additional reserves of oil and gas, and extended the productive life of the field well into the 21st century. ExxonMobil also has interests in some 35 fields in the central North Sea and around 30 fields in the southern sector of the North Sea that are operated by other companies. ExxonMobil has an interest in six major pipeline systems that transport oil and gas from the North Sea to terminals on the north east coast of England and Scotland. Oil from the North Sea is transported either by pipeline to terminals - at Sullom Voe in the Shetlands, Cruden Bay in Scotland, or Teeside in England - or loaded offshore on to tankers for delivery to refineries in the UK and around the world. Gas from the northern and central North Sea is piped to processing plants at St Fergus on the north-east coast of Scotland. At the Shell/Esso processing plant at St Fergus, natural gas is fed into the national grid and natural gas liquids (NGLs) are piped to Mossmoran in Fife for further processing. At the NGL plant, separated propane and butane are exported by ship whilst ethane is piped to the Fife Ethylene Plant in Mossmorran that is operated by ExxonMobil Chemical. Gas from the southern North Sea fields is piped to plants either at Bacton or Theddlethorpe on the east coast of England where it is processed before being fed into to the Transco National Transmission System and distributed to end users. <<BACK |