THE PERSEUS FIELD, NORTH WEST SHELF, AUSTRALIA: A GIANT GAS ACCUMULATION IN A COMPLEX STRUCTURAL/STRATIGRAPHIC TRAP

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
M.L. Taylor ◽  
N.B. Thompson ◽  
N.C. Taylor

The Perseus Field contains reported expectation (proven plus probable) dry gas and condensate reserves of 6.48 TCF (183 × 109 m3) and 165.7 MMBBL (26.3 × 106 m3), respectively, in a complex structural/stratigraphic trap. Gas is predominantly reservoired in Bathonian shallow marine sandstones of the Legendre Formation which subcrop the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous 'Main Unconformity' in a graben separating the Goodwyn and North Rankin horsts. The Lower Cretaceous Muderong Shale forms the main regional top seal. The Lower-Middle Jurassic Athol Formation forms the seat seal for the Perseus trap and subcrops the Main Unconformity northwest of North Rankin. The maximum gross gas column for the field is approximately 360 m. The Athol Formation and underlying Murat Siltstone also form the topseal for the small Searipple Field, which underlies Perseus.The Perseus trap is dip-closed to the northwest. A steep fault scarp forms the southern margin of the trap. Trap integrity is dependent upon fault seal along the western flank of the field, where the reservoir section is juxtaposed against Athol Formation claystones in a long narrow fault block downthrown from the Goodwyn block. At the southwestern corner of the field this fault block is absent and the Perseus reservoir is juxtaposed against Triassic reservoir section in the Goodwyn block.The NRA22 well, drilled from the North Rankin A platform, has been producing gas from the Perseus Field since mid-1991. Reservoir pressure measurements and production history data have been of immense value in the exploration and appraisal of this field, both in driving further drilling and in understanding the results. Integration of geoscientific and engineering data and expertise within a multi-disciplinary team was essential for the efficient appraisal and evaluation of the field.

1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. WHITEHEAD ◽  
S. J. PINNOCK

AbstractHighlander Field, discovered in 1976, is a small oil accumulation located 7½ miles northwest of the Tartan Platform and 114 miles northeast of Aberdeen in UK Block 14/20b. The Field lies on the NW-SE-trending Claymore-Highlander Ridge which forms the southern margin of the Witch Ground Graben. Upper Jurassic sandstones of the shallow marine Piper Formation and deeper marine turbidites (the 'Hot Lens Equivalent') within the Kimmeridge Clay Formation form the principal reservoirs. An additional important reservoir occurs within Lower Cretaceous turbidite sandstone and a small crestal accumulation occurs in Carboniferous deltaic sandstone. The structure is a tilted NW-SE-trending fault block downthrown to the northeast. The sandstone reservoirs all dip to the south and southwest and become thin due to onlap or truncation to the north. The Field has a combined structural-stratigraphic trap configuration. Seal is provided by Upper Jurassic siltstone and Lower Cretaceous calcareous clay stone. The accumulations have been sourced from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in adjacent basins. Eight wells delineate the structure and production is currently 30 000 BOPD. Ultimate recoverable reserves are 70 million barrels of crude oil. Development has been achieved utilizing an innovative remote subsea system, connected to the Tartan Platform 7½ miles to the southeast.


1977 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 45-49
Author(s):  
Richard J. Hodgkinson ◽  
Christopher D. Walley

Carbonate and clastic sediments of Jurassic and Cretaceous age are exposed along the fault-scarp of Djebel Nefusa in north-western Libya. Previous geological investigations have been mainly restricted to the eastern sector of the scarp. Recent studies by the authors in the western sector of Djebel Nefusa and on equivalent sediments in southern Tunisia have allowed the first regional interpretation of these rocks.The area studied lies geographically and geologically at the edge of the Saharan Platform, a large cratonic block, composed of rocks of Precambrian-Palaeozoic age. To the north and east lies a downfaulted sedimentary basin (Gabes-Sabratha Basin) containing a large thickness of Mesozoic sediments. The location of the sections measured along Djebel Nefusa are depicted in Fig.1.The stratigraphic nomenclature of the rock succession of Djebel Nefusa was first established in the east and continued laterally towards the west by later workers. Difficulties in the application of this nomenclature are presented by the recognition of facies changes previously overlooked by earlier investigators. However, as a framework for understanding these changes and the sedimentary processes which caused them, the stratigraphy erected by Magnier (1963) is adopted.


1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
R. Smith ◽  
P. Kamerling

Geophysical exploration carried out in the Great Australian Bight since 1966, combined with geological fieldwork in the adjacent land areas, has made it possible to outline the broad geological framework of the area.The "basement" consists of two major units, an offshore extension of the locally metamorphic Cambrian Kanmantoo Group in the south-east and the extension of the West Australian Archaean shield in the north-west. The boundary is thought to follow a trend extending westerly from the Cygnet-Snelling fault zone on Kangaroo Island.In two areas the basement has been downfaulted, thus creating depositional areas for thick sequences of sediments, namely the Elliston trough to the west of Eyre Peninsula and the Duntroon basin, south of Eyre Peninsula and west of Kangaroo Island.The geological setting of the Duntroon basin appears to be comparable with the Otway basin and a Jurassic- Cretaceous age is assumed for the folded sequence of sediments overlying the basement and underlying the Tertiary with angular unconformity. The basin was possibly partially and temporarily closed to the south and open to marine influences from the west.In the Elliston trough the lower part of the section which has low to medium velocity seismic character, is probably Mesozoic, as is evidenced by the Upper Jurassic encountered in its onshore extension. Proterozoic-Cambrian sediments may overlie the basement in the eastern part of the trough. Deformation of the Mesozoic is limited to the mouth of the trough where there is indication of a base- Tertiary unconformity. This trough was probably also open to marine influences to the west.Along the continental margin between the basins and also south of the Eucla basin a thin Mesozoic section, conformably underlying the Tertiary, is probably present, gradually thickening towards the continental slope.In the onshore area Tertiary sedimentation started with local deposition of clastics during the Middle Eocene, which also may have been the case off the Eucla basin, in the Elliston trough and in the Duntroon basin. Carbonate sedimentation took place from the Middle-Upper Eocene onwards, to reach its widest areal extent during the Lower Miocene. A hiatus during the Oligocene may have occurred in the western part of the Bight as is the case in the Eucla basin.Only weak deformation of the Tertiary in the offshore area has been observed. This generally occurs over Mesozoic structures in the Duntroon basin and as draping over topographic basement highs at the mouth of the Elliston trough.No significant hydrocarbon indications are known from the surrounding land areas, but the well-documented bitumen strandings along the coast point to offshore seepages indicating generation of hydrocarbons in the general area.At this stage prospects must be regarded as speculative.although a folded probable Mesozoic sequence forms an objective in the Duntroon basin while prospective Mesozoic-Tertiary section appears to be present in the Elliston trough, where structural evaluation is still at a relatively early stage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 691-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Taylor ◽  
N. J. Webb ◽  
C. J. Stevenson ◽  
J. R. Henderson ◽  
A. Kovac ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Buzzard Field remains the largest UK Continental Shelf oil discovery in the last 25 years. The field is located in the Outer Moray Firth of the North Sea and comprises stacked Upper Jurassic turbidite reservoirs of Late Kimmeridgian–Mid Volgian age, encased within Kimmeridge Clay Formation mudstones. The stratigraphic trap is produced by pinchout of the reservoir layers to the north, west and south. Production commenced in January 2007 and the field has subsequently produced 52% over the estimated reserves at commencement of development, surpassing initial performance expectations. Phase I drilling was completed in 2014 with 38 wells drilled from 36 platform slots. Platform drilling recommenced in 2018, followed in 2019 by Phase II drilling from a new northern manifold location.The evolution of the depositional model has been a key aspect of field development. Integration of production surveillance and dynamic data identified shortcomings in the appraisal depositional model. A sedimentological study based on core reinterpretation created an updated depositional model, which was then integrated with seismic and production data. The new depositional model is better able to explain non-uniform water sweep in the field resulting from a more complex sandbody architecture of stacked channels prograding over underlying lobes.


1962 ◽  
Vol S7-IV (2) ◽  
pp. 219-221
Author(s):  
A. Poignant

Abstract On the basis of the microfacies and correlations of the stratigraphic units of the Arbailles massif with those further to the north (Arancou-Bergouey, Orthez-Sainte Suzanne, France), more precise information is available on the upper Jurassic and lower Cretaceous stratigraphy of the area. Due to the absence of the Perisphinctus bed (Oxfordian) the Callovian-Oxfordian boundary is indefinitely drawn; the Kimmeridgian-Portlandian boundary is likewise imprecise. The Neocomian exists but is undifferentiated. The Aptian can be divided into upper (limestones) and lower (marls) units, a regionally recognizable subdivision. The Cretaceous is transgressive, but more concordant than discordant.


2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Stuart

abstractIn 1994 the Armada partnership sanctioned the simultaneous development of the Fleming, Drake and Hawkins Gas-condensate Fields by means of shared facilities; the overall project was called the Armada Development. The operator is BG International (formerly British Gas). The development was interesting because the component fields are not only separate accumulations, but are of completely different geological type.The Fleming Field is a Palaeocene, Maureen Formation high-density turbidite reservoir, sourced from the north but pinching out eastwards against the N S Utsira/Jaeren High and Hawking-Varg Ridge, and therefore forming a 20 km long, continuous, but very narrow reservoir. The drake Field is an Upper Jurassic. Fulmar Formation, shallow marine, shore-face reservoir, with excellent reservoir quality in a compact fault block. The Hawkins Field reservoir is poorer quality Fulmar Formation, typical of a more distal setting; the trap is formed by closure over a salt dome, and the structure is consequently quite heavily faulted.The challenge was to develop these disparate reservoirs from a single surface site. to capture the askward shape of Fleming and the distance between Drake and Hawkins. This was achieved by means of extended each drilling; although the high cost of such wells meant that every one had to be designed for maximum yield. Overall eifht wells were drilled, five to Fleming, two to Drake and one to Kawkins (these numbers being approximately proportional to gas-in-place). These wells are capable of delivering the project design peak rate of 450 mmscfd off-platform (equivalent to about 480 mmscfd reservoir gas), and up to 24000 BOPD condensate. Armada began production on schedule in October 1997.


1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Shepherd

abstractMagnus is the most northerly producing field in the UK sector of the North Sea. The oil accumulation occurs within sandstones of an Upper Jurassic submarine fan sequence. The combination trap style consists of reservoir truncation by unconformity at the crest of the easterly dipping fault block structure and a stratigraphic pinchout element at the northern and southern limits of the sand rich fan. The reservoir is enveloped by the likely hydrocarbon source rock, the organic rich mudstones of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation.


Lithologic and stratigraphic evidence from D.S.D.P. Site 398 (3910 m water depth, 1740m total penetration) and regional seismic reflexion data are placed in the context of the early tectonic evolution of the North Atlantic ocean. The morphology of the western Iberian continental margin is the result of two main tensional episodes dated Permo— Lias and Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous, during which the initial basins between Grand Banks and Iberia were created by subsidence and tilting of continental blocks. A limited oceanic opening had probably occurred in Jurassic time between these two tensional episodes. There was no relative motion during Lower Cretaceous between North America and Iberia. One of the main results is that the 398 drillhole penetrated into the basement structure of a tilted block of the continental margin. Borehole data indicate an Uppermost Aptian age for the end of the Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous tensional episode at the level of the site. The subsequent beginning of sea floor spreading in the Uppermost Aptian is associated with a change of sedimentary facies from graded sequences interbedded with slump beds or debris flows to dark, detritic shales. The continental margin had subsided on a regional scale since this time.


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