Thread by @Volcanologist

Took a Boxing Day walk today to Dukes Wood Oil Field in Eakring, Nottinghamshire.

The top secret oil field, Britain's first major onshore oil operation, that saved us during the war but masqueraded as a film set...

Thread...

Prior to 1939, 80% of Britain's oil came from America or Iran. We imported by shipping.

Then WW2 happened. Within the first 7 months of 1941, German U-boats had sunk 681 oil-carrying vessels. By Autumn of 1942, an average of 700,000 tonnes of oil were being sunk a month.

Oil stores were destroyed too. Almost a million barrels that were stored in docks had been bombed.

Oil was needed. Desperately.

It needed to come from within Britain as our shipping routes had effectively been severed.

In 1941, Britain's Secretary of Petroleum, Geoffrey Lloyd wrote to Britain's petroleum companies, urging them to contribute to the war effort and increase Britain's oil output.

What was Britain's oil production like before 1939?

The country’s oil resources were nationalised by the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934. There were a handful of wells across the country producing small amounts of oil. One such place was Eakring, Nottinghamshire.

The D'Arcy Exploration Company, a subsidiary of British Petroleum (then known as Anglo-Iranian) identified a potential anticline trap, centered under Eakring, where oil could have accumulated.

The first well at Eakring was spudded in 1939.

The call for more oil was answered at Eakring. In 1941 more oil was discovered under Dukes Wood. An oil field was established using existing rigs that were originally designed for use in Persia. These 50 wells produced 700 barrels a day.

But the rigs weren't for for purpose.

Under extreme secrecy, Britain turned to American oil companies for help. Better equipment, properly trained drillers and 100 extra wells could quadruple production.

Contracts were signed with two companies based in Oklahoma-the Noble and the Fain-Porter Drilling Corporations.

It was all very cloak and dagger. Any word of a producing oil field and it would be bombed by German forces. Then there was the politics of the time preventing land & equipment to be purchased by foreign companies.

It was agreed that 'for the war effort' no profit could be made

In February 1943 42 Roughnecks arrived from America with all the equipment needed to establish the Dukes Wood Oil Field. They had 1 year

They were accommodated in Kelham Hall, a dilapidated Victorian Home, which at the time was home to monks of the Society of the Sacred Mission.

The sudden arrival of all these Americans and deliveries of equipment was the talk of the county. The cover story was that they were there to make a movie!

But life was hard in a war zone. Rationing hit them hard, as they were unused to food shortages.

The Americans were able to establish a well a week, where before it took the British 5-8 weeks per well.

In the year they were contracted, the Americans drilled 94 wells of over 2500 ft, 76 of which were producers. Daily oil production exceeded 3000 US barrels per day.

The deepest well to be drilled was no. 146 to a depth of 7473 ft. Photo from the Dukes Wood Oil Museum

During the war years, Eakring and Dukes Wood produced over 300,000 tonnes of oil, three times the original target set for total output for British Petroleum.

Britain's oil supply was saved by what became known as the 'Roughnecks of Sherwood Forest'.

In 1991 the statue of the Oil Patch Warrior was erected in memorial to the Roughnecks of Sherwood Forest and their contribution to the war effort. An exact replica was erected in Ardmore, Oklahoma where the men came from

Dukes Wood field closed in 1965 after producing 600,000 tons of oil. Eakring closed in 1966 and produced a total of 280,000 tons.

Dukes Wood was gifted to Nottinghamshire's Wildlife Trust by BP in 1992. It was designated as an SSSI for flora and fauna in 1972. There's a trail, and you can still see some nodding donkeys and bits of pipeline. We didn't get to visit the museum which is now at Kelham Hall

The info in this thread mostly comes from an info board in the wood, and a lovely wee book called Oil Under Sherwood Forest by Janet Roberts.

The oil is found in the Carboniferous Millstone Grit, and trapped in an anticline centred under Eakring. The area is also well known for its coal measures.

Source rocks are present in Late Dinantian Shales and Limestones.

Dukes Wood and Eakring are part of the larger East Midlands Province.

BP have long pulled out of exploration or production in this area. It is still licensed but no-one is producing or actively exploring (as far as I know). Though I hear they are in Lincolnshire.

/End

Addition. Meant to say, exploring in the area. I know there are still actively producing onshore fields in the East Midlands Basin, such as in Lincolnshire.

If you're interested in UK onshore oil, this table summarises our major fields. From this factsheet* by the BGS bgs.ac.uk/downloads/star…

*More of a lengthy report than a factsheet