Potential for brine storage near the gas storage facility at Lille Torup, northern Jylland, Denmark

This study is based on a feasibility study for the Danish Energinet. dk to identify potential formations for brine storage near the gas storage facility at Lille Torup, northern Jylland, Denmark (Fig. 1; Hjuler et al. 2017). Located on top of a salt structure, the gas storage facility comprises seven caverns, which have been washed out by circulating water in the salt dome. One cavern contains c. 520.000 m3 of intrusive brine that must be disposed of in order to increase the storage volume for gas. One option is to inject the brine into the subsurface if a target with appropriate storage properties can be identified, but it is a prerequisite that the stored brine does not compromise freshwater reservoirs. Due to cost considerations, the brine storage should be situated within a radius of 50 km of the gas storage facility and at a depth not exceeding 2000 m. Based on the national geothermal research conducted during the last decade, a number of sandy formations are considered potential storage reservoirs (Fig. 2; e.g. Mathiesen et al. 2009; Vosgerau et al. 2016). Around Lille Torup, these include the Bunter Sandstone/Skagerrak, Gassum, Haldager Sand and Frederikshavn formations where the two former formations are discarded due to present-day burial depths exceeding 2000 m. In addition, the Chalk Group is considered a potential storage formation due to its importance as a hydrocarbon reservoir in the North Sea, however, due to risk of leakage to the younger sediments and risk of environmental issues, the chalk was discarded as potential storage zone.

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Redeposited chalk hydrocarbon reservoirs of the North Sea caused by the Chicxulub K-T bolide impact

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en Mijnbouw ◽

10.1017/s0016774600020163 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 82 (4) ◽

pp. 333-337

Author(s):

M. Rider ◽

D. Kroon

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Secondary Effects ◽

Sea Floor ◽

Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Physical Effects ◽

Central North Sea ◽

The Impact ◽

Oil Company

AbstractA widespread, slumped, redeposited, uppermost Cretaceous chalk interval, up to 60m thick, immediately below the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary, recognised in oil company boreholes across the central North Sea and a major hydrocarbon reservoir, we re-interpret as the result of a single, catastrophic event caused by secondary effects related to the bolide impact at Chicxulub. A thin, dark clay bed immediately above the redeposited chalks, we suggest correlates to the outcropping, Iridium rich, Danish ‘Fish Clay’, rapidly deposited after the impact. Physical effects on sea-floor sediments, caused by the K-T bolide impact, have not previously been interpreted in the North Sea.

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Bayes linear uncertainty analysis for oil reservoirs based on multiscale computer experiments

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198703174.013.10 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Antonio Pievatolo ◽

Fabrizio Ruggeri

Keyword(s):

Uncertainty Analysis ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Computer Experiments ◽

Oil Reservoirs ◽

Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Reservoir Simulation Model ◽

Oil And Gas Reservoir

This article discusses the results of a Bayes linear uncertainty analysis for oil reservoirs based on multiscale computer experiments. Using the Gullfaks oil and gas reservoir located in the North Sea as a case study, the article demonstrates the applicability of Bayes linear methods to address highly complex problems for which the full Bayesian analysis may be computationally intractable. A reservoir simulation model, run at two different levels of complexity, is used, and a simulator of a hydrocarbon reservoir represents properties of the reservoir on a three-dimensional grid. The article also describes a general formulation for the approach to uncertainty analysis for complex physical systems given a computer model for that system. Finally, it presents the results of simulations and forecasting for the Gullfaks reservoir.

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Correlation of Hydrocarbon Reservoir Sandstones Using Heavy Mineral Provenance Signatures: Examples from the North Sea and Adjacent Areas

Minerals ◽

10.3390/min8120564 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 564 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew Morton ◽

Paula McGill

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Upper Jurassic ◽

Heavy Mineral ◽

Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Reservoir Sandstones ◽

Northern North Sea ◽

Heavy Mineral Analysis ◽

Central North Sea

Correlation of hydrocarbon reservoir sandstones is one of the most important economic applications for heavy mineral analysis. In this paper, we review the fundamental principles required for establishing correlation frameworks using heavy mineral data, and illustrate the applications of a wide variety of heavy mineral techniques using a number of case studies from hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North Sea and adjacent areas. The examples cover Triassic red-bed successions in the central North Sea and west of Shetland, which have been subdivided and correlated using provenance-sensitive ratio data and mineral morphologies; Middle Jurassic paralic sandstones in the northern North Sea, correlated using garnet geochemistry; Upper Jurassic deep water sandstones in the northern North Sea, discriminated using rutile geochemistry and detrital zircon age data; and the “real-time” application of the technique at well site in Devonian-Carboniferous fluvio-lacustrine sandstones of the Clair Field, west of Shetland.

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On the Significance of Salt Modelling—Example from Modelling of Salt Tectonics, Temperature and Maturity Around Salt Structures in Southern North Sea

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences9090363 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 363 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Grunnaleite ◽

Mosbron

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽

Structure Evolution ◽

Basin Modeling ◽

The North ◽

Hydrocarbon Maturation ◽

Salt Structure ◽

Modeling Software ◽

The North Sea ◽

The Impact

Salt structures are attractive targets for hydrocarbon exploration. Salt can flow as a viscous fluid, act as hydrocarbon seal, and salt-related deformation may create reservoir traps. The high conductivity of salt can be crucial for hydrocarbon maturation in a basin. Here, we present results from the study of salt structures on the Eastern flank of Central Graben, on the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. By using our in-house basin modeling software (BMTTM), we modelled the salt structure evolution and the effects of salt on temperature and maturation. Our results show up to 85 °C cooling due to the salt heat pipe effect. An integrated impact of cooling is the depression of vitrinite Ro by up to 1.0% at the base of a large salt balloon. Our work shows that it is of critical importance to correctly identify salt volumes and to have a good geological model, and to understand the timing and geometrical evolution of salt structures. This study is, to our knowledge, the most specific analysis of the impact of salt on basin temperature and maturation published so far, and is an example of how basin modeling in the future should be an integrated part of exploration.

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