Albion Sea Gas Fields

Albion Sea Gas Field
Map of the Albion Sea Gas Field's Approximate Area, with Arcerion Exclusive Economic Zone marked with Red Line
Type	Sea
Primary inflows	Odoneru Ocean, Arctic Shelf Runoff
Basin countries	Arcerion, Alpachnee, Kiravia
Average depth	126 m (413 ft)
Max. depth	843 m (2,766 ft)
Islands	New Moorden, Elizabeth, Gibson, Atrassica
Settlements	Port Northford

The Albion Sea Gas Field is a natural gas and oil field in the Arcer Economic Exclusion zone near the Howland Governorate. It is one of the largest in the world, and the largest in the Northern part of the Odoneru Ocean, holding an estimated 60% of the region's crude oil and liquid natural gas. The field as a whole consists of the Eastern and Western structures, approximately 200km South of Elizabeth Island. The majority of the gas lies in the Western Field.

History

The Albion Sea Gas Field was discovered in 1977 by the RV Rochester, an Arcerion-chartered oceangraphic survey ship that was operating under charter by the Arcerion Oil and Gas Company. The Western Field was discovered in May of 1977, and the Eastern Field in July, with the additional RV Treaty being brought to the Arctic Circle to assist in survey and exploration operations in the Fall of 1977.

The first deep sea drilling rig was completed in November of 1978, with considerable numbers of derricks and rigs following in the Arcer gas boom of the 1980s and 1990s. The Arcer government announced that it was extending its maritime sovereignty to include the gas fields, and pushing its Exclusive Economic Zone boundary Southwest in 1980 to protect the nation's economic interest. The majority owners of the gas field and drilling rights since the initial discovery in 1977 are the Arcerion Oil and Gas Company, and the Howland Petroleum Corporation.

Development

The Arcerion Oil and Gas Company proposed to develop the Albion gas field as a sub-sea production and refinement facility supported by onshore processing and distribution. This meant that the project required major public and private investment to support the specialized winterized infrastructure. This development led to offshore installations such as drilling rigs and wells, and the construction of the Port Northford Petroleum Complex (PNPC).

Gas Field

A deep sea drilling rig belonging to the Arcerion Oil and Gas Company in the Albion Sea, 2017.

The Albion gas field is located in two major sections, the Eastern and Western Fields. The Western field is due South of Elizabeth Island, the Eastern Field being due South of Gibson Island. The Western field is estimated to be at over one trillion cubic feet of liquid natural has, and the Eastern Field roughly three-quarters of that. Crude Oil is estimated in the tens of millions of barrels. The natural gas coming from the Albion Sea Gpas Field is of high quality, consisting of 95% methane and ethane mixture. There are several dozen drilling rigs above the numerous wells that act as the linkage between surface structures and under sea drilling and extraction. There is limited production facilities at the field but the majority of the gas is piped to the Port Northford Petroleum Complex via the Arco Arctic Petroleum Pipeline.

Pipeline

The under sea pipeline from the Albion Gas Fields to their landfall at the Port Northford Petroleum Complex is several hundred kilometers in length. The Eastern Gas Field has a smaller facility on Gibson Island that stores raw gas and crude oil for transportation to Port Northford for refinement and processing into finished, exportable petroleum products. The pipeline was completed in 1989 by the Typhoon pipelaying vessel, provided by investors from Burgundie.

Processing Plant

A section of the gas and oil storage facilities in Port Northford, Howland Governorate.

There are two main facilities for storage and processing, The smaller is on Gibson Island, the Eastern Gas Storage Facility. The however undergoes processing and refinement at the Port Northford Petroleum Complex, a multi-company conglomerate of oil and gas refinement and preparation facilities, accompanied by a sizeable reserve to facilitate the export via natural gas and oil tankers via Port Northford Harbour.

Employment

Employment in the gas and petroleum industry is the largest sector of private sector employment in Howland governorate. Of the Governorate's 1.3 million citizens, approximately one-fifth (approximately 260,000 people) are directly or indirectly involved with the production and extraction of gas.

Production

The production of oil and natural gas makes Arcerion one of the world's largest petroleum exporters. As of 2023, Arcerion exported approximately 185,000 (million m³) of natural gas annually, with plans to expand this to what economists and petroleum industry experts expect to be as much as 200,000 (million m³) annually.

Arcerion also produces a considerable amount of oil, with its daily oil production for 2024 sitting at 4.3 million barrels a day.

Sovereignty

An escort vessel of the Royal Arcerion Naval Service sails in a winter storm during patrol operations in the Albion Sea, 2017.

Arcerion maintains its sovereign right over the Albion Sea Gas Fields due to two factors, historical claim from the expeditions of John Howland, and the inherent geographical location of Howland Governorate. To support this, it has permanently stationed several of its naval vessels, and regularly the ACS Kurst, the nation's carrier, makes port visits to the Arctic territory, to reaffirm Arco sovereignty. Additionally, there is no non-Arco majority-owned corporations permitted to operate in the gas field, even though there is considerable investment from some other Levantine nations. The Gas Field has also brought about some issues with nearby countries, as it has sought to use the gas fields as a means to economically improve its standing and GDP. This has resulted in several maritime and naval tensions between Arcerion and the Confederation, at times escalating and raising the risk of a shooting war between the two Cronan nations. The most prominent of these was a 2018 incident where an Alpachnee corvette attempted to prevent the MV Starlight, an Arcerion-chartered oil tanker belonging to the Albion Gas Consortium. The corvette conducted several dangerous maneuvers as the MV Starlight attempted to travel to Atrassica, and the Royal Arcerion Naval Service was forced to intervene, with the ACS Warrington, a destroyer, and its accompanying escorts escalating almost to the use of force before the Indigenous vessel broke away for port. The Arcer government lodged formal complaints with the Alpachnee Ambassador to Arcerion and their government over the issue, although no apology was ever given.