Rühle (oil field)

Oil pump on the Rühlertwist

The Rühle oil field is an oil field in Lower Saxony in the Emsland district in the middle of the Bourtanger Moor , which extends around the town of Twist . The field is divided into two sub-fields that are exploited by different companies. The subfield Rühlertwist is located in the local area of Twist, so that the oil pumps are partly right next to residential buildings. The Rühler Moor field section, on the other hand, is located in the middle of the moor and can largely only be reached with the Rühlermoor field railway . The light rail network is several kilometers long and continues to be used for peat extraction .

The oil field

Before the Mittelplate was found in 1981, the Rühle oil field was considered to be the largest oil reservoir in Germany. It was discovered in 1949 and its subsequent development continued well into the 1950s. Nearly 600 holes were drilled across the field. The field is divided into a large eastern part of the field Rühlermoor and a smaller western Rühlertwist , which continues to just above the Dutch border.

The Rühlermoor field section is exploited by Exxonmobil Production Deutschland GmbH , the other Rühlertwist field section by GDF SUEZ E&P Deutschland GmbH .

The deposit is located in the Bentheim sandstone at a depth of approximately 850 m and has a slight bulge. The entire oil prospect covers an area of almost 24 km². The deposit is sealed absolutely gas-tight by layers of the Neokom and Alb in the hanging wall. The deposit, divided by numerous cracks, has a maximum thickness of up to 60 m and an average thickness of 35 m in the east and 23 m in the west. Here the overall thickness is reduced to up to 20 m.

The total reserve of the field was estimated in 1979 at around 128 million tons. Of this, the Rühlertwist field section produced 3.7 million t and Rühlermoor 15.0 million t.

advancement

Total amount of both field parts

The delivery rate of both field parts:

year	Promotion in tons
1950	41,429
1955	487,324
1960	618.153
1965	944.720
1970	886.104

year	Promotion in tons
1975	656.373
2013	202.931
2014	180.036
2015	170.044
2016	179,760

year	Promotion in tons
2017	179,831
2018	168,421
2019	150.613

Rühlertwist

year	Promotion in tons
2009	24,705
2010	23,268
2011	21,027

Rühlermoor

year	Promotion in tons
2009	214,678
2010	210.616
2011	209,439

Trivia

The special circumstances make the oil field a Mecca for light rail enthusiasts, who can see locomotives and lorries of various designs here.

literature

Heinz Boigk: Petroleum and petroleum gas in the Federal Republic of Germany . Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-432-91271-4 .
Gotthard Fürer: Mining in Emsland and the Meppen Mining Authority. In: Jahrbuch 1970. Emsländischen Heimatbund, Lingent 1970, pp. 128–144.
Emsland Heimatbund: Emsland in the making, from handicraft to nuclear power . Sögel 1986, ISBN 3-88077-108-X .