Petroleum Geoscience - Current Issue

Large volumes of hydrocarbons reside in volcanically influenced sedimentary basins. Despite having a good conceptual understanding of how magmatism impacts the petroleum systems of such basins, we still lack detailed case studies documenting precisely how intrusive magmatism influences, for example, trap development and reservoir quality. Here we combine 3D seismic reflection, borehole, petrographical and palaeothermometric data to document the geology of borehole 5/22-1, NE Irish Rockall Basin, offshore western Ireland. This borehole (Errigal) tested a four-way dip closure that formed to accommodate emplacement of a Paleocene–Eocene igneous sill-complex during continental break-up in the North Atlantic. Two water-bearing turbidite-sandstone-bearing intervals occur in the Upper Paleocene; the lowermost contains thin (c. 5 m), quartzose-feldspathic sandstones of good reservoir quality, whereas the upper is dominated by poor-quality volcaniclastic sandstones. Palaeothermometric data provide evidence of anomalously high temperatures in the Paleocene–Eocene succession, suggesting the poor reservoir quality within the target interval is likely to reflect sill-induced heating, fluid flow, and related diagenesis. The poor reservoir quality is also probably the result of the primary composition of the reservoir, which is dominated by volcanic grains and related clays derived from an igneous-rock-dominated, sediment source area. Errigal appeared to fail due to a lack of hydrocarbon charge: that is, the low bulk permeability of the heavily intruded Cretaceous mudstone succession may have impeded the vertical migration of sub-Cretaceous-sourced hydrocarbons into supra-Cretaceous reservoirs. Break-up-related magmatism did, however, drive the formation of a large structural closure, with data from Errigal at least proving high-quality, Upper Paleocene deep-water reservoirs. Future exploration targets in the NE Irish Rockall Basin include: (i) stratigraphically trapped Paleocene–Eocene deep-water sandstones that onlap the flanks of intrusion-induced forced folds; (ii) structurally trapped, intra-Cretaceous, deep-water sandstones incorporated within intrusion-induced forced folds; and (iii) more conventional, Mesozoic fault-block traps underlying the heavily intruded Cretaceous succession (e.g. Dooish). Similar plays may exist on other continental margins influenced by break-up magmatism.

Supplementary material: Borehole-related reports, and litho- and composite logs are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4803267

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 in situ 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.

Deep-water lobe deposits are arranged hierarchically and can be characterized by high net:gross ratios but poor sand connectivity due to thin, but laterally extensive, shale layers. This heterogeneity makes them difficult to represent in standard full-field object-based models, since the sands in an object-based model are not stacked compensationally and become connected at a low net:gross ratio. The compression algorithm allows the generation of low-connectivity object-based models at high net:gross ratios, by including the net:gross and amalgamation ratios as independent input parameters. Object-based modelling constrained by the compression algorithm has been included in a recursive workflow, permitting the generation of realistic models of hierarchical lobe deposits. Representative dimensional and stacking parameters collected at four different hierarchical levels have been used to constrain a 250 m-thick, 14 km2 model that includes hierarchical elements ranging from 20 cm-thick sand beds to more than 30 m-thick lobe complexes. Sand beds and the fine-grained units are represented explicitly in the model, and the characteristic facies associations often used to parameterize lobe deposits are emergent from the modelling process. The model is subsequently resampled without loss of accuracy for flow simulation, and results show clearly the influence of the hierarchical heterogeneity on drainage and sweep efficiency during a water-flood simulation.

The following chemostratigraphy study was conducted on Paleozoic sediments encountered in 14 wells in eastern Saudi Arabia. A total of 1500 samples were analysed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), with data acquired for 48 elements, ranging from Na to U in the periodic table. The aim was to utilize chemostratigraphy, in conjunction with existing biostratigraphic, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological data, to define the Hercynian Unconformity in each well and to recognize stratigraphic boundaries occurring above and below it. This was necessary as the unconformity eroded to different stratigraphic levels in each well, with Devonian, Silurian and Ordovician sediments found immediately below it in adjacent locations. In the absence of chemostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and sedimentological data, it is often very difficult to define this boundary and others using lithostratigraphy alone as many stratigraphic intervals yield similar gamma-ray (GR) log trends. For example, a low ‘blocky’ GR response is typical of both the Carboniferous Ghazal Member and the Ordovician Sarah Formation. Similarly, both the Silurian Sharawra Member and the Silurian–Devonian Tawil Formation produce a ‘ratty’ GR trend. Each stratigraphic member and formation was found to have distinctive chemostratigraphic, biostratigraphic, sedimentological and/or wireline log signatures.

Evidence of hydrocarbon leakage has been well documented across the SW Barents Sea and is commonly associated with exhumation in the Cenozoic. While fault leakage is thought to be the most likely cause, other mechanisms are possible and should be considered. Further study is required to understand what specific mechanism(s) facilitate such leakage, and why this occurs in some locations and not others. In a case study of the Snøhvit Field, we use seismic and well data to quantify fault- and top-seal strength based on mechanical and capillary threshold pressure properties of fault and cap rocks. Magnitude and timing of fault slip are measured to acknowledge the role that faults play in controlling fluid flow over time. Results based on theoretical and in situ hydrocarbon column heights strongly indicate that across-fault and top-seal breach by capillary threshold pressure, and top-seal breach by mechanical failure are highly unlikely to have caused hydrocarbon leakage. Instead, top-seal breach caused by tectonic reactivation of identified faults is likely to have facilitated hydrocarbon leakage from structural traps. The results of this case study acknowledge the different mechanisms by which hydrocarbons can leak from a structural trap. Employing both a holistic and quantitative approach to assessing different seal capacities reduces the likelihood that a particular cause of hydrocarbon leakage is overlooked. This is particularly relevant for the Snøhvit Field in its dual capacity as a producing gas field and as a carbon sequestration site since both systems rely on a thorough understanding of seal capacity and leakage potential.