The development has been in three phases; it has a total of 80 wells.  

Facilities include:

• A gathering station.
• A sea water-pumping station.
• Infield pipelines for transporting the product from the wellsites to the gathering station.
• An export pipeline or the crude oil.
• A crude oil storage and loading facility at Hamble on Southampton Water.

Export  

The heart of the project is to be found at Wytch Heath. This is the site of the gathering station where the crude oil and liquid petroleum gases (LPGs) from the reservoirs are separated.

LPG is stored in 12 large steel vessels before being exported by road tanker to Terminals and Customers throughout the country.

A 16-inch diameter pipeline exports 25,000 barrels of equivalent oil per day , 91 kilometres via the Fawley refinery across Southampton Water to Hamble oil terminal.  Here it is stored in five tanks before being exported by tankers of up to 110,000 tonnes.

At the gathering station there is a parallel 48 kilometre, 8-inch diameter pipeline that was laid by BP on behalf of British Gas.  It exports 1 million cubic feet a day of methane produced by the oilfield to Sopley, north of Christchurch, for feeding into the main domestic gas trunkline system.

Environmental considerations  As a result of the area's ecological important, BP vigorously applied its environmental protection policy.  It instituted a monitoring programme covering 23 studies from archaeology and seabed ecology to surveys of the wintering bird population, reptile communities and the red squirrel colony on Furzey Island and the distribution and health of heathland, reed beds and saltmarshes.  The results of these surveys were vital in determining both how to develop the oilfield, and in providing baseline data against which BP could monitor its performance.   Extended reach drilling   Initial development plans proposed an artificial island in  the bay to access the furthest parts of the Sherwood reservoir. However, by pursuing advances in drilling technology coupled with considerable environmental and economic benefits, BP were able to drill the wells from an onshore site in the Goathorn peninsula.

In recent years, BP have been foremost in significant advances in extended reach drilling techniques, such as:

• The development of rotary steerable tools to control the wellbore trajectory at distances of over 10 kilometres.

• Active management of drilling torque and drag.

Since embarking in April 1993 on the third phase of development from the onshore site at Goathorn Peninsula, Wytch Farm has established a number of drilling world records including:

• The horizontal displacement distance of the extended reach wells.
• Well M16 set a new world record when it broke the 10 kilometre barrier in June 1999 reaching a horizontal displacement distance of 10728m, a total length of 11278m and a depth of 1638m.

The choice of Wellsite M

As part of the planning requirements for the well site M on Goathorn Peninsula an Environmental Statement and non-technical summary were produced. Throughout the process of selecting and designing the site, the proposals were discussed with a working partyof statutory consultees set up by Dorset County Council to advise BP on environmental issues.

 Four sites were investigated for their ecological value, archaeological potential and noise issues. Well site M (as it became known), situated to the north of well site F, was chosen. Although this site is within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a potential Special Protection Area (SPA) designated to satisfy the EC Directive on the conservation of wild birds, it was demonstrated through scientific studies that the actual area of the proposed well site was not of unique ecological value.

 Once well site M was established as the preferred location, more details environmental studies were instigated and the Environmental Statement written to reflect the potential environmental effects of such a development.

 The Queen's Award 95

 The Wytch Farm Development won The Queen's Award for Environmental Achievement 1995 in acknowledgement of the innovative, technologically challenging and environmentally beneficial manner in which the offshore section of the Sherwood reservoir is being developed.

Landscape and Visual Assessment

Sensitive treatment of the development, the majority of which lies on the southern shores of Poole Harbour, was vital.  Photomontages and computer-generated perspectives from six pre-determined viewpoints were considered in detail to assess the likely visual impact of the development.

 Careful consideration was given to the levels, shape and general arrangement of the developed area and the citing of the operating equipment.  The various above ground permanent components were designed to blend into the existing landscape.

• Electrical sub-station
• Firewater tank
• Accommodation and lay down
• Access roads
• Security and screen fencing

During the temporary drilling phase of the development, certain components of the drilling rig and associated equipment are visible above the tree line but these will be removed at the end of the drilling programme.

BP manages an area of land around the site in order to integrate the site into the Purbeck countryside and to ensure that due consideration is given to the ecology of the area for the life of the oilfield.  A Land Management Plan, approved by the Mineral Planning Authority, details the ongoing management of all the developed sites at Wytch Farm.

Ecology

Detailed studies on the ecology of the proposed development area looked at the plants, reptiles, birds, insects and badger population in detail.  From this information a detailed picture of the ecology of the peninsula was gained.  The Goathorn Peninsula, on which are situated two important well sites, contain areas of remnant heathland which support a rare and interesting flora and fauna, including sand lizards, nightjar and the heather; Dorset Heath.

The area has management potential for conversion back to prime heathland habitat.  Agreement was reached between BP, the Dorset County Council, the landowner and Natural England for BP to manage approximately 64 acres of Goathorn for nature conservation over the life of the oilfield.

Noise

The drilling rig and ancillary equipment had a comprehensive noise-control package installed to meet the strict noise criteria imposed by Dorset County Council.

Other environmental considerations

 Regular atmospheric monitoring around the existing oilfield facilities, together with the observations of lichens on nearby trees, indicate that the air quality around existing well sites and the gathering station generally suffers no adverse impacts from BP's activities in the area.

 Groundwater around the sites is protected from pollution by good engineering and design with rigorous implementation of pollution control measures during construction and drilling.  Regular monitoring of groundwater in the area by the use of a borehole (installed in advance of any construction) provides an accurate record of ground water quality.

 Contingency planning for pollution risks has been of paramount importance in this sensitive location.