1887
Volume 26, Issue 4
  • ISSN: 1354-0793
  • E-ISSN:

Abstract

Technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have led to a re-evaluation of the UK Carboniferous sequences for shale oil and gas potential. In the Gainsborough Trough, hemipelagic mudstones known collectively as the Bowland Shale were deposited during the Pendleian Substage (Late Mississippian). In this study the interpretation of heritage 2D and recent 3D seismic data allowed the reconstruction of the tectonic evolution of the basin, which was simulated in a 3D basin and petroleum systems model. The model enabled the first prediction of generated, adsorbed, retained and expelled hydrocarbon volumes. Between 8 and 26 Bbbl of STOIIP, and between 11 and 38 tcf of GIIP have been estimated to lie within the Bowland Shale in the Gainsborough Trough. However, at the present time, there is considerable uncertainty concerning these in-place volumes, and no tests have proven the recoverability of oil and gas from the Bowland Shale in this area. Importantly, the Bowland Shale has been modelled as a single homogeneous layer, and the volume numbers need to be corrected for a net to gross factor, once the criteria required for the definition for net reservoir in this formation are better understood.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1144/petgeo2019-069
2020-02-28
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Anderton, R., Bridges, P.H., Leeder, M. and Sellwood, B.W.
    1979. A Dynamic Stratigraphy of the British Isles: Study in Crustal Evolution. George Allen & Unwin, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Andrews, I.J.
    2013. The Carboniferous Bowland Shale Gas Study: Geology and Resource Estimation. British Geological Survey for department of Energy and Climate Change, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Besly, B.M.
    1990. Carboniferous. In: Glennie, K.W. (ed.) Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of the North Sea. Blackwell Science, Oxford, UK, 90–119.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. 2018. Exploration and development in the Carboniferous of the Southern North Sea: a 30-year retrospective. Geological Society, London, Special Publications , 471, 17–64, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP471.10
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bray, R.J., Green, P.F. and Duddy, I.R.
    1992. Thermal history reconstruction using apatite fission track analysis and vitrinite reflectance: a case study from the UK East Midlands and Southern North Sea. Geological Society Special Publications , 67, 3–25, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1992.067.01.01
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bulat, J. and Stoker, S.J.
    1987. Uplift determination from interval velocity studies, UK, southern North Sea. In: Brooks, J. and Glennie, K.W. (eds) Petroleum Geology of North West Europe. Graham & Trotman, London, 293–305.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Charpentier, R.R. and Cook, T.A.
    2011. USGS Methodology for Assessing Continuous Petroleum Resources. United States Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2011-1167.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Clarke, H., Turner, P., Bustin, M., Riley, N.J. and Besly, B.
    2018. Shale gas properties of the Bowland Basin, NW England: a holistic approach. Petroleum Geoscience, 24, 287–322, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2017-066
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Coward, M.P.
    1993. The effect of Late Caledonian and Variscan continental escape tectonics on basement structure, Paleozoic basin kinematics and subsequent Mesozoic basin development in NW Europe. Geological Society, London, Petroleum Geology Conference Series , 4, 1095–1108, https://doi.org/10.1144/0041095
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Creedy, D.P.
    1991. An introduction to geological aspects of methane occurrence and control in British deep coal mines. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology, 24, 209–220, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.QJEG.1991.024.02.04
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Daly, A.R. and Edman, J.D.
    1987. Loss of organic carbon from source rocks during thermal maturation. AAPG Bulletin, 71, 546 (abstract).
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Evans, C.J. and Allsop, J.M.
    1987. Some geophysical aspects of the deep geology of eastern England. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 46, 321–333, https://doi.org/10.1144/pygs.46.4.321
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Fielding, C.R.
    1984. A coal depositional model for the Durham Coal Measures of NE England. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 141, 919–931, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.141.5.0919
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Fraser, A.J. and Gawthorpe, R.L.
    1990. Tectono-stratigraphic development and hydrocarbon habitat of the Carboniferous in Northern England. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 55, 49–86, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.055.01.03
    [Google Scholar]
  15. 2003. An Atlas of Carboniferous Basin Evolution in Northern England. Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 28, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2003.028.01.08
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Fraser, A.J., Nash, D.F., Steele, R.P. and Ebdon, C.C.
    1990. A regional assessment of the intra-Carboniferous play of Northern England. Geological Society, London, Special Publications , 50, 417–440, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.050.01.26
    [Google Scholar]
  17. George, T.N.
    1966. Geomorphic evolution in Hebridean Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology, 2, 1–34, https://doi.org/10.1144/sjg02010001
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Gilman, J. and Robinson, C.
    2011. Success and failure in shale gas exploration and development: Attributes that make the difference. Search and Discovery Article #80132 presented at theAAPG International Conference and Exhibition, September 12–15 2011, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Green, P.F.
    1989. Thermal and tectonic history of the East Midlands shelf (onshore UK) and surrounding regions assessed by apatite fission track analysis. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 146, 755–773, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.146.5.0755
    [Google Scholar]
  20. 2005. Post-Carboniferous burial and exhumation histories of Carboniferous rocks of the southern North Sea and adjacent onshore UK. Occasional Publications of the Yorkshire Geological Society , 7, 25–34.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Green, P.F., Hudson, J.D. and Thomson, K.
    2001. Recognition of tectonic events in undeformed regions: contrasting results from the Midland Platform and East Midlands Shelf, Central England. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 158, 59–73, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs.158.1.59
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Gross, D., Sachsenhofer, R.F., Bechtel, A., Pytlak, L., Rupprecht, B. and Wegerer, E.
    2015. Organic geochemistry of Mississippian shales (Bowland Shale Formation) in central Britain: Implications for depositional environment, source rock and gas shale potential. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 59, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.07.022
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Guion, P.D. and Fielding, C.R.
    1988. Westphalian A and B sedimentation the Pennine Basin. In: Besly, B.M. and Kelling, G. (eds) Sedimentation in a Syn-Orogenic Basin Complex: The Upper Carboniferous of NW Europe. Blackie, London, 153–177.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hall, A.M.
    1991. Pre-Quaternary landscape evolution in the Scottish Highlands. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 82, 1–26, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300007495
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Hampson, G.J.
    1997. A sequence stratigraphic model for deposition of the Lower Kinderscout Delta, an Upper Carboniferous turbidite-fronted delta. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 51, 273–296, https://doi.org/10.1144/pygs.51.4.273
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Hampson, G.J., Elliot, T. and Flint, S.S.
    1996. Critical application of high resolution sequence stratigraphic concepts to the Rough Rock Group (Upper Carboniferous) of northern England. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 104, 221–246, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.104.01.14
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Hantschel, T. and Kauerauf, A.I.
    2009. Fundamentals of Basin and Petroleum Systems Modeling. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Hillis, R.R.
    1995. Quantification of Tertiary exhumation in the United Kingdom Southern North Sea using sonic velocity data. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 79, 130–152, https://doi.org/10.1306/8D2B14DA-171E-11D7-8645000102C1865D
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Holdsworth, B. and Collinson, J.
    1988. Millstone Grit cyclicity revisited. In: Besly, B.M. and Kelling, G. (eds) Sedimentation in a Synorogenic Basin Complex: The Upper Carboniferous of NW Europe. Blackie, London, 132–152.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Holliday, D.W.
    1993. Mesozoic cover over Northern England: interpretation of apatite fission track data. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 150, 657–660, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.150.4.0657
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Hughes, F., Harrison, D. et al.
    2018. The unconventional Carboniferous reservoirs of the Greater Kirby Misperton gas field and their potential: North Yorkshire's sleeping giant. Geological Society, London, Petroleum Geology Conference Series , 8, 611–625, https://doi.org/10.1144/PGC8.5
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Japsen, P.
    1997. Regional Neogene exhumation of Britain and the western North Sea. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 154, 239–247, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.154.2.0239
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Jarvie, D.M.
    2012. Shale resource systems for oil and gas: Part 1 – Shale-gas resource systems. AAPG Memoirs, 97, 69–87.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Jones, S.M., White, N., Clarke, B.J., Rowley, E. and Gallagher, K.
    2002. Present and past influence of the Iceland Plume on sedimentation. Geological Society, London, Special Publications , 196, 13–25, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2002.196.01.02
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Kemp, S.J., Merriman, R.J. and Bouch, J.E.
    2005. Clay mineral reaction progress – the maturity and burial history of the Lias Group on England and Wales. Clay Minerals, 40, 43–61, https://doi.org/10.1180/0009855054010154
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Kent, P.E.
    1966. The structure of the concealed Carboniferous rock of north-eastern England. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 35, 323–352, https://doi.org/10.1144/pygs.35.3.323
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Leeder, M.R.
    1982. Upper Palaeozoic basins of the British Isles: Caledonide inheritance versus Hercynian plate margin processes. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 139, 481–494, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.139.4.0479
    [Google Scholar]
  38. 1988. Recent developments in Carboniferous geology: a critical review with implications for the British Isles and NW Europe. Proceedings of the Geologists Association, 99, 73–100, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7878(88)80001-4
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Leeder, M.R. and Hardman, M.
    1990. Carboniferous geology of the Southern North Sea Basin and controls on hydrocarbon prospectivity. Geological Society, London, Special Publications , 55, 87–105, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.055.01.04
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Lewis, C.L.E., Green, P.F., Carter, A. and Hurford, A.J.
    1992. Elevated K/T paleotemperatures throughout Northwest England; three kilometres of Tertiary erosion?Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 112, 131–145, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(92)90012-K
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Martinsen, O.J., Collinson, J.D. and Holdsworth, B.K.
    1995. Millstone Grit cyclicity revisited, II: sequence stratigraphy and sedimentary responses to changes of relative sea-level. International Association of Sedimentologists Special Publications , 22, 305–327.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. McKenzie, D.
    1978. Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 40, 25–32, https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(78)90071-7
    [Google Scholar]
  43. O'Mara, P.T.
    1997. Westphalian B marine bands and their subsurface recognition using gamma-ray spectrometry. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 51, 307–316, https://doi.org/10.1144/pygs.51.4.307
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Payros, A., Pujalte, V. and Orue-Etxebarria, X.
    2007. A point-sourced calciclastic submarine fan complex (Eocene Anotz Formation, western Pyrenees): facies architecture, evolution and controlling factors. Sedimentology, 54, 137–168, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00823.x
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Pearson, M.J. and Russell, M.A.
    2000. Subsidence and erosion in the Pennine Carboniferous Basin, England: lithological and thermal constraints on maturity modelling. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 157, 471–482, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs.157.2.471
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Pepper, A.S. and Corvi, P.J.
    1995. Simple kinetic models of petroleum formation. Part 1: Oil and gas generation from kerogen. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 12, 291–319, https://doi.org/10.1016/0264-8172(95)98381-E
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Peters, K.E., Walters, C.W. and Moldowan, J.M.
    2005. The Biomarker Guide. 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK (2 vols).
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Pharaoh, T.C., Vincent, C., Bentham, M.S., Hulbert, A.G., Waters, C.N. and Smith, N.J.P.
    2011. Structure and Evolution of the East Midlands Region of the Pennine Basin. British Geological Survey Subsurface Memoirs. British Geological Survey, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Plackett, R.L. and Burman, J.P.
    1946. The design of optimum multifactorial experiments. Biometrika, 33, 305–325, https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/33.4.305
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Rollin, K.E.
    1995. A simple heat-flow quality function and appraisal of heat-flow measurements and heat flow estimates from UK Geothermal Catalogue. Tectonophysics, 244, 185–196, https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(94)00227-Z
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Rose, P.R.
    2001. Risk Analysis and Management of Petroleum Exploration Ventures. AAPG Methods in Exploration, 12.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Steele, R.P.
    1988. The Namurian sedimentary history of the Gainsborough Trough. In: Besly, B.M. and Kelling, G. (eds) Sedimentation in a Syn-Orogenic Basin Complex: The Upper Carboniferous of Northwest Europe. Blackie, Glasgow, 102–113.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Stewart, S.A. and Bailey, H.W.
    1996. The Flamborough Tertiary outlier, UK southern North Sea. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 153, 163–173, https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.153.1.0163
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Tucker, M.E. and Hollingworth, N.T.J.
    1986. The Upper Permian reef complex (EZ1) of North East England: diagenesis in a marine to evaporitic setting. In: Schroeder, J.H. & Purser, B.H. (eds) Reef Diagenesis. Springer, Berlin, 270–290.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. White, N. and Lovell, B.
    1997. Measuring the pulse of a plume with the sedimentary record. Nature, 387, 888–891, https://doi.org/10.1038/43151
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Whitelaw, P., Uguna, C.A. et al.
    2019. Evaluating shale gas reserves: innovative pyrolysis approach providing consistency withholding capacity and field data. Nature Communications, 10, article number 3659, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11653-4
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Whittaker, A., Holliday, D.W. and Penn, I.E.
    1985. Geophysical Logs in British Stratigraphy. Geological Society, London, Special Reports, 18.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Yang, S., Horsfield, B., Mahlstedt, N., Stephenson, M. and Konitzer, S.
    2015. On the primary and secondary petroleum generating characteristics of the Bowland Shale, northern England. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 173, 292–305, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2015-056
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1144/petgeo2019-069
Loading
/content/journals/10.1144/petgeo2019-069
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article

Most Cited This Month Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error