Abstract
The NE Atlantic volcanic rifted margins include vast underexplored basin areas neighbouring mature petroleum-producing regions. We appraise the cross-border prospectivity of the outer and central Faroe–Shetland, Møre and southern Vøring basins and present insights from extensive new 3D seismic surveys. Regional seismic surfaces are used to compile a cross-border seismic profile highlighting key discoveries from the UK Rosebank field in the SW to the Norwegian Ormen Lange field in the NE. Cretaceous to Paleocene reservoirs remain the main exploration focus seaward of the platform areas, and the presence of several large untested structures presents important exploration targets in the mid-Norway region. Improved imaging of the areas affected by Paleogene igneous rocks reveals major untested sub-basalt structures including some regions on the marginal highs where the basalt cover has been entirely removed by erosion, revealing sub-basalt stratigraphy and structures with pre-Cretaceous potential prospectivity. The influence of igneous rocks on both discovered and prospective hydrocarbon systems is discussed. Neogene sand injectite fields and Quaternary glacial sand bodies are extremely well imaged in the Møre Basin, documenting shallow prospectivity supported by the presence of successful regional analogue plays. New 3D seismic data are revealing previously unseen pro-spectivity in frontier and underexplored regions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 99-138 |
Number of pages | 40 |
Journal | Geological Society Special Publication |
Volume | 495 |
Early online date | 7 Jan 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Sept 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding This project has received funding from the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, project number 223272.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgements TGS are kindly thanked for access to data and permission to show seismic examples. The authors would like to thank Christopher Jackson for editorial handling and Mark T. Ireland and Tony Doré for insightful and constructive reviews which substantially improved the manuscript. We further acknowledge the support from the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme, project 22372.