Show North Sea Covers Large Gas Reservoir Orange fires now flicker flicker- over the only expanses of oC the North Sea The flames fed fed by vast nat fields beneath the sea bottom signal the success of one of oC the greatest gambles in inthe Inthe the history of modern day ex ex- ex exploration THE RUSH of the square mile North Sea in search of fuel began in 1961 when the Dutch discovered the worlds world's third largest gas reservoir in their own front yard Groning en Province National Geo graphic says Geologists knew that the North Seas Sea's rock layers were part of the same geological bas bas bas- basin in that produced gas at Gronn Gron Gronningen ingen so the Dutch bonanza quickly made the entire sea one of the liveliest prospecting regions anywhere Today more than half halfa a dozen oil Companies are suc suc- successfully c tapping gas fields that lie beneath the choppy gray waters eaters separating England and Europe A 42 MILE long pipeline car ries gas from British Petrol Petrol- Petroleum eum eum field directly to a sing plant on thee the east coast of England Petroleum engineers estimate that North Sea reserves could amount to more than 10 trillion lion cubic feet of natural gas Though the North Sea ea is a bonanza to some prospectors it itcan itcan can be disaster to others An 11 firm consortium from Cram West Ger Ger- Ger Germany many spent three years and 30 million in an unsuccessful search for marketable gas off the west coast of Schleswig Holstein UNDERWATER drillers even if successful must find huge deposits to make the operation a success The expense se of offshore drilling can be beten beten ten times that on land I Elaborate electronic gear and sonic soundings are used to hunt out likely gas reservoirs Drill Drill- lug ing rigs that can move from site to site may b be as big as foot foot- football ball fields and cost 10 million to build Some have legs long and strong enough to support drilling platforms thrusting high above water hundreds of feet deep other rigs employ sub sub- submersible barges and anchors to float over drilling sites A MODERN rig forms a com in itself Crews of up to 50 men have their own living quarters and dining ining halls workshops storerooms storerooms and heliports for quick air taxi service to shore North Seagoing rigs in the North Sea must be able to withstand ever changing weather that c can n br br- br bring ing raging st storms 50 foot waves es and strong tidal currents Already two giant drilling rigs have fallen victim to th the North Seas Sea's wild weather and joined the wrecks of oC hundreds of oC ships on the bottom |