Emerging
Jurassic Source Rock Play in the Deepwater off Newfoundland and Labrador, East Coast of
Canada
Enachescu, Michael E.1, John
R. Hogg2 (1) Memorial University, St John's, NF (2) ConocoPhillips
Canada, Calgary, AB
The sedimentary basins located on the Canadian Atlantic Coast off Newfoundland and Labrador, were formed by
Mesozoic rifting and ocean opening. A proven petroleum system anchored by the
Kimmeridgian Egret Member of the Rankin Formation produces 400,000 bopd from
three giant fields - Hibernia, Terra Nova and White
Rose - all located within the shallow waters of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin. High quality reservoir
rocks are present in the Late Jurassic (Jeanne d'Arc Formation sandstone),
Early Cretaceous (Hibernia Formation sandstone) and late Early Cretaceous
(Eastern Shoals, Avalon and Ben Nevis Formations sandstones).
Recent drilling in the Flemish Pass Basin encountered marine
source rocks and reservoir oil of Jurassic age in the deepwater of the Flemish Pass. By using modern seismic
grids, the source rock interval can be extrapolated into the Orphan Basin. The deepwater Chevron
et al., Great Barasway F - 66 well was drilled in the fall of 2006 to test a
large anticline situated in the eastern portion of the basin, in an area where
seismic mapping has predicted the existence of mature source rocks. On the
outer shelf and on the slope of the Hopedale Basin, in the Labrador Sea, several deep
sedimentary troughs were identified, that may contain a Late Jurassic
sedimentary succession capable of generating oil.