The importance of stratigraphic plays in the undiscovered resources of the UKCS

Sue Stoker1, Joy Gray2, Peter Haile2, Ian Andrews1 & Don Cameron1
1British 2Department

Geological Survey of Trade and Industry

DTI Core Store 376 Gilmerton Road Edinburgh EH17 7QS Tel 0131 664 8852
NERC All rights reserved

The importance of stratigraphic plays in the undiscovered resources of the UKCS By Sue Stoker (of British Geological Survey) with Joy Gray and Peter Haile (of Department of Trade and Industry) and Ian Andrews & Don Cameron (of British Geological Survey) Presented at The deliberate search for the startigraphic trap: where are we now, Geological Society, London, May 2004 & Petex 2004, London.

Acknowledgements
Work carried out under contract by BGS in Edinburgh

Unreleased seismic data courtesy of: Fugro Multi Client Services

First of all, thanks due to the DTI since all of this work has been carried out under contract to the Oil and Gas Directorate of the DTI. This paper includes some of the material which we presented at the 6th Petroleum Geology Conference at the QE2 centre, London in 2003 (due to be published in 2005), and also some leads worked up by BGS and presented on the DTIs Promote UK 2004 CD-Rom Thanks are due to Fugro Multi Client Services for seismic examples

Layout

Historical perspective: UKCS fields & discoveries (as of end 2003) Review of stratigraphic plays & play maturity in pre-rift to post-rift play groups - pre-rift: reservoirs typically sheet-like, stratigraphic entrapment uncommon - syn- & post-rift: stratigraphic entrapment in deep-water systems of major importance Conclusions the future is stratigraphic

This shows the path I will follow through this talk starting with a few summary statistics for the UKCS fields and discoveries. All figures presented here are as of end 2003. Im going to look at the proven record for stratigraphic traps in the pre-rift, syn-rift and post-rift plays, and show that the mainly fluvial and aeolian pre-rift reservoirs tend to be sheet-like with fewer stratigraphic traps, and that deep water reservoirs of the syn-rift and post-rift sections have a greater number of associated stratigraphic traps.

UKCS discovery curve (at end 2003)

Maturing.. but not in old age yet

UKCS discovered recoverable reserves: 50 BBOE

(at end 2003, Proven + Probable + Possible)

UKCS undiscovered recoverable reserves: 4.1 8.9 21.3 BBOE

(at end 2003)

UKCS discovery curve shows blue line is cumulative resources BBOE, orange bars show annual in place resources discovered in BBOE All successive discovery curves are identical format to this, and all resource volumes are in place

UKCS technical success rate (to end 2003)

2178 exploration wells drilled to end 2003 Technical success rates: 1964-2003 average = 31.1% 1999-2003 average = 45.4%

2150 or so exploration wells drilled to end 2003. Average technical success rate for the entire exploration period to end 2003 is 31%. In the latter five years, despite a significantly reduced number of exploration wells, the technical success rate has risen to an impressive 45%.

Trap types in UKCS fields and discoveries 6% 12%

Structural Combination

Trap type:

20%

5%

Proportional: numbers of fields 82% structural

Stratigraphic

Proportional: in-place volumes 75% structural

UKCS discovered recoverable reserves: 50 BBOE

(at end 2003, Proven + Probable + Possible)

Lets look at the proportions of structural vs stratigraphic trap types in the known fields and technical discoveries of the UKCS. On a simple field and discovery count, 18% of traps are stratigraphic or combination. Taking into account in-place volumes, stratigraphic and combination traps make up almost a quarter of discovered resources

UKCS fields & discoveries size distribution chart (end 2003)

Distribution of structural traps and stratigraphic/combination traps

Its interesting to compare the field size distributions for the structural vs stratigraphic + combination traps in the UKCS discovered database. Whilst the structural component has a rather mature profile, the stratigraphic + combination component is an irregular distribution. If we believe that the total population of both discovered and undiscovered resources in stratigraphic + combination traps is likely to match a mature distribution shape then there could be significant potential for undiscovered resources

UKCS discoveries stratigraphic context

From DTI Promote UK 2004 CD

Trap types in UKCS fields and discoveries 43 plays defined 15 play groups 7 gross plays

Trap type (frequency):

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

In our work for the DTI, we have defined 43 UKCS plays which we have condensed into 15 play groups. These have been simplified a little further into 7 gross plays as shown here on the right.

Pre-rift: Palaeozoic

Rotliegend play

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Carboniferous plays

Palaeozoic: 22% of discovered recoverable reserves. 2% are combination traps Devonian, Carboniferous & Permian plays

Almost entirely structural traps found. Reservoirs range from fractured basement rocks through Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian strata Structural: Argyll, Buchan, Clair, Innes, Leman, Murdoch Combination: Auk, Tyne complex, Murdoch K (CMS III), Ravenspurn North

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Pre-rift: Carboniferous (e.g. Southern North Sea)

Ketch Member sub-fairway Sub-Permian erosional traps of effectively sheet-like fluvial sands Three proven sub-regional intraformational seals
After Munns et al (in press)

Considerable potential remains for exploration of Carboniferous fluvio-deltaic sandstone reservoirs in sub-Permian erosional traps. Depending on the trap geometry, Carboniferous intraformational top or bottom seals would be required proven intraformational seals have been recognised at 3 levels within the Upper Carboniferous. In the Ketch Member sub-fairway msot of the large dscoveries are structural, but the Tyne fields and Murdoch K are partially stratigraphic. There are several as yet untested outliers which offer excellent combination trap potential

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Pre-rift: Lower Permian Rotliegend (e.g. Southern North Sea)

After Munns et al (in press)

In the Rotliegend of the SNS, high reservoir quality dine facies interfinger with sabkha and lacustrine shales, setting up the potential for pinchout traps around the margins. North Ravenspurn is the only partially stratigraphic trap known in this play. Lower Permian basin margin pinchout traps are under-explored, possibly due to the extra risk involved with strat traps. Current strategy seems to be to mop all the small, low risk, close to field structures in this play.

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Pre-rift: Triassic - L Jurassic

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Skagerrak~Cormorant~Statfjord (oil) plays

Triassic-Lower Jurassic: 11% of discovered recoverable reserves. 4% occur in combination traps Predominantly fluvial plays
Bunter~Hewett~Sherwood (gas) plays

Structural traps predominate. Simple and complex tilted horst block traps; successful hanging wall traps are relatively rare. Commonly found stacked in the same trap with overlying Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Triassic Skagerrak Fm reservoirs occur in salt-controlled mini-basins. Structural: Beryl, Esmond, Hewett, Judy, Marnock, Morecambe, Statfjord Combination: Kittiwake (secondary non-economic reservoir), Strathmore (WOS angular unconformity trap on flank of basin)

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Pre-rift: Triassic - L Jurassic (e.g. West of Shetland)

Strathmore discovery, block 205/26, East Solan Basin (up-dip erosional truncation trap)
After Herries et al (1999)

E.g. Strathmore discovery combination trap erosional truncation of dipping beds at western margin of East Solan Basin, sealed by contra-dipping Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Fm

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Pre-rift: Middle Jurassic

Middle Jurassic plays

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Middle Jurassic: 21% of discovered recoverable reserves. 3% occur in combination traps Fluvio-deltaic to shallow marine plays

Play group is mature. Structural trap types predominate. Simple and complex tilted or horst fault block traps; crestal slumping and degradation is common in the Brent Province (East Shetland Basin). Successful hanging wall traps are relatively uncommon. Structural: Beatrice, Beinn, Brent, Ninian, Seagull Combination: Beryl

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Pre-rift: Middle Jurassic (e.g. Brent play)

Brent Field, block 211/29, East Shetland Basin

After Taylor et al (2003)

Brent type trap simple tilted fault block complicated at crest by slumps and erosion. Here defined as essentially structural, although some might consider this to be a combination trap.

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Syn-rift: Upper Jurassic

Deep-water play only
Upper Jurassic deep-water play

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Upper Jurassic: 20% of discovered recoverable reserves. 25% occur in stratigraphic and combination traps Shallow marine plays mainly structural Deep marine plays 48% stratigraphic/combination

Trap type is highly variable. Many of the combination traps found were initially identified as structural traps, but have proved to be larger than pre-drill prognosis because closure is enhanced by an element of stratigraphic pinchout (e.g Brae fields). Deep-water sandstone reservoirs commonly have an element of stratigraphic trapping; shallow marine syn-rift sandstones mainly occur in structural traps. Lateral distribution and geometry of deep water mass-flow deposits is highly conducive to partial stratigraphic entrapment. Stuctural: Durward, East Brae, Janice, Piper, Renee, Telford Combination: Solan, Kittiwake, Magnus, S, C & N Brae Stratigraphic: Miller, Dauntless, Tartan, Highlander, Buzzard Pie chart includes both the Upper Jurassic shallow marine-deltaic (e.g.Piper) and deep-water (e.g.Brae) plays. Looking at simply the deep-water play, the proportion of strat & comb traps in discovered resources is much higher at 43%

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Syn-rift: Upper Jurassic (e.g. Moray Firth)

Seismic data courtesy of Fugro Multi Client Services. Prospect featured on DTI Promote UK 2005 CD

Mapped wedging unit within the Kimmeridgian shows amplitude anomaly that may indicate lateral pinchout of oil-bearing sands. Oil shows found within the Kimmeridgian at nearby well 12/24-2, located on the closing contour of a smaller structural feature.

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Post-rift: Lower Cretaceous

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Aptian - Albian play

Lower Cretaceous: 4% of discovered recoverable reserves. 75% occur in stratigraphic and combination traps
Late Ryazanian Barremian play

Deep marine plays

75% of existing Lower Cret discoveries lie in stratigraphic + combination traps. Many successfully tested structural closures have been found to have an element of stratigraphic entrapment, I.e. the hydrocarbon contact is deeper than the spill point. Scapa Field is a combination faulted syncline and up-dip stratigraphic pinchout that was only discovered by accident during appraisal drilling on the underlying Jurassic Claymore Field. In the Lower Cretaceous, one of the greatest challenges is determination of sand presence. Structural traps: Hannay, Victory Combination: Britannia, Captain, Claymore, Cromarty, Goldeneye, Scapa Stratigraphic: Highlander

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Post-rift: Lower Cretaceous plays (e.g. Moray Firth)

Highlander Field, block 14/20, Outer Moray Firth

After Whitehead & Pinnock (1991) & Oakman (in press)

Britannia, Scapa & Highlander Lower Cretaceous accumulations were all found by sheer good luck. Highlander discovery well 14/20b-5 targeted a Jurassic fault block closure, found Piper Fm water wet, but discovered oil in Lower Cretaceous (ValanginianHauterivian sands). Illustrates the importance of drilling off structure to capture Lower Cretaceous stratigraphic traps. Note also Scapa and Claymore fields (Scapa found by serendipity during appraisal drilling of Claymore). The Scapa Field lies within a syncline.

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Post-rift: Lower Cretaceous deep-water play, West of Shetland

Prospect featured on DTI Promote UK 2005 CD

Lower Cretaceous deep-water sand play isopach map shows basin-floor fan like geometry, with feeder channel coming off the footwall of the Otter Bank Fault.

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Post-rift: Lower Cretaceous deep-water play, West of Shetland

Released BP 3D seismic. Prospect featured on DTI Promote UK 2005 CD

Seismic section across the prospect shows the onlap of Lower Cretaceous onto the top Jurassic within the lower fan unit. Another younger Lower Cretaceous fan unit has been identified, the upper fan, and its isopach shows that it was derived from the Rona Ridge on the opposite side of the East Solan Basin. Seismic data shows the feeder channel of the upper fan to be erosive. We cant image sandstones directly on seismic, but we can map fan-like geometries that explain trace sand developments in nearby wells. (see DTI Promote UK 2005 CD)

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Post-rift: Upper Cretaceous

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Upper Cretaceous: >1% of discovered recoverable reserves. 21% occur in combination traps Deep marine play (Chalk), limited to Central North Sea

Existing UKCS fields and discoveries are located mainly in structural traps. However, an increasing number of traps have been shown to include a component of stratigraphic entrapment by low porosity reservoir units following post-charge tilting. The Danish sectors Halfdan Field is a unique form of stratigraphic trap (dynamic). Structural traps: Kyle, Banff, Orion Combination: Joanne, Fife, Flora

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Post-rift: Upper Cretaceous Dynamic trap

e.g. Halfdan, but low effective permeability

Hydrodynamics likely to be of key importance in subtle traps

After Megson & Harding (2001)

Require reservoir modelling to predict dynamic traps. Structural traps typically have fracture porosity and quite good recovery factors (Ekofisk 38% RF), but stratigraphic traps are generally associated with lower effective permeabilities, and therefore also lower recovery factors (Halfdan estimated at 25%). The Chalk Group is highly overpressured, and the potential for subtle oil traps may be more dependent upon the pressure regime than on any other parameter

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Post-rift: Paleogene

Paleogene deep-water play

Structural

Combination

Stratigraphic

Paleogene: 22% of discovered recoverable reserves. 50% of which occur in stratigraphic and combination traps Predominantly deep marine plays, but fluvio-deltaic plays locally important

Structural: drape across fault blocks and salt structures Stratigraphic: detached basin-floor channel and fan mounds Combination: combined dip and stratigraphic pinch-out traps, combined palaeogeomorphic and basement drape traps. Structural: Forties, Montrose, Andrew, Machar, Foinaven Combination: East Foinaven, Gannet F, Schiehallion Stratigraphic: Alba, Frigg, Everest, Gryphon, Harding & Pilot Oilexcos 2003 Brenda discovery in block 15/25 which found around 150 MBO in place in a Forties Fm strat trap is a testament to the continuing success of Paleogene deep water plays

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Post-rift: Paleogene plays (e.g. Northern North Sea)

From DTI Promote UK 2005 CD

This schematic section from the Northern North Sea illustrates the range of stratigraphic plays in the Paleogene, showing actual discoveries in stratigraphic and combination traps in both shallow marine and deep water settings. applies to the Paleogene around the UKCS. Palaeogeomorphic entrapment due to sedimentary mounding and differential compaction (detached lobes of mass-flow sandstones with 4-way dip closure), also incised valley fill mounds with compactional drape e.g Bressay or compactional drape enhanced delta-top palaeorelief (e.g. 9/3-1).

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Post-rift: Paleogene plays (e.g. Central North Sea)

Everest Field:
(blocks 22/9 & 22/10) lateral pinchout of stacked deepwater sands onto the Jaeren High

After OConnor & Walker, 1993

Classic stratigraphic pinchout trap. 22/9-1 drilled in 1976 missed the field as it drilled down dip from the Mey and Maureen pinchouts, and by incredible bad luck found a sand-poor interlobe area within the Forties. Some of these stratigraphic traps really do seem to conspire to against our efforts! Adverse serendipity!

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Post-rift: Eocene Tay stratigraphic prospect, CNS

Tay Fm isopach

Prospect featured on DTI Promote UK 2004 CD

22/26a-1 drilled in 1981 tested not the main lobe but a secondary lobe that probably post-dates the main lobe.

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Post-rift: Paleogene plays (e.g. West of Shetland)

After Munns et al (in press)

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Post-rift: Paleocene stratigraphic lead, West of Shetland

After Munns et al (in press). Released Shell seismic available from PGS Geophysical

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Post-rift: Mid-Eocene fan, West of Shetland B

Seismic data courtesy of Fugro Multi-Client Services. Prospect featured on DTI Promote UK 2005 CD

Also evidence for possible injectites associated with this fan could be Alba lookalikes in this area

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The future is stratigraphic.

Trap types within
discovered resources,

Estimated % of total Yetto-Find in stratigraphic and combination traps

33%

discovery curves and geological models for

each play have been considered to estimate the proportion of stratigraphic traps in the undiscovered resource population

17% 5%

Trap type (frequency):

Structural Combination Stratigraphic

In summary the fields and discoveries to end 2003 show that stratigraphic trapping mechanisms occur mostly within the syn-rift and post-rift sections, closely associated with deep-water sandstone plays, however, only 17% of the discovered resources occur within strat or comb traps. Considering the play facies, and play maturity, we believe that there are many more strat traps out there, perhaps making up 50% of the total undiscovered resources

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Conclusions: I
17% of the UKs discovered resources are located within stratigraphic or combination traps; 48-75% of deep-water reservoirs occur in full or partial stratigraphic traps Few substantial structural traps remain in the UK North Sea, except at considerable depth with attendant reservoir quality, high pressure and high temperature risks Pre-rift plays offer little stratigraphic potential, focused mainly in Carboniferous plays Upper Jurassic syn-rift and Cretaceous to Paleogene post-rift deep-water plays offer the greatest potential for stratigraphic entrapment Around 50% of the UKs undiscovered resources are predicted to lie in stratigraphic or combination traps
DTI Undiscovered recoverable resources: 4.1 8.9 21.3 BBOE

Time to wrap up now with a few conclusions. My primary point is simple, that fluvial, aeolian and shallow marine plays have much less potential for stratigraphic entrapment then deep-water plays due to their sheet-like nature. This is backed up by the evidence from the pre-rift plays where there are no discoveries in purely stratigraphic traps, and combination traps make up a tiny proportion of the total. The lateral and vertical complexity of deep-water systems offers abundant opportunities for stratigraphic entrapment. Again, backed up by the existing discoveries, where 25-61% of traps have an element of stratigraphic trapping.

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Conclusions: II
There has been relatively little direct exploration for stratigraphic traps until recently A significant number of stratigraphic traps have been found through serendipity A high proportion of 21st & 22nd Round licence application prospects and leads had a stratigraphic component Successful exploration for stratigraphic traps will rely on wellgrounded conceptual models for reservoir distribution to predict trap configuration and well-constrained use of seismic techniques such as long-offset acquisition and AVO where appropriate

A significant number of discoveries with stratigraphic trapping were discovered by sheer good luck whilst drilling for other targets, and until Buzzard Field was proved, there had been relatively little direct exploration for stratigraphic traps. Its interesting to note that a large number of licence applications in the 21st and 22nd Rounds included stratigraphic prospects and leads. Successful exploration for stratigraphic targets will rely on well-grounded conceptual models for reservoir distribution to predict trap configuration, and well-constrained use of seismic techniques such as AVO and long-offset acquisition where appropriate to map trap geometry and determine drilling locations. Thank you

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UKCS fields & discoveries size distribution chart (end 2003)

Distribution of structural traps and stratigraphic/combination traps

And finally.. If we believe that the total population of both discovered and undiscovered resources in stratigraphic + combination traps is likely to match a mature distribution shape then there could be significant potential for undiscovered resources

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