Petroleum
Potential of the East Greenland Shelf
Gautier, Donald L.1, Flemming
G. Christiansen2, Lars Stemmerik2, Torben Bistrup2,
Jørgen A. Bojesen-Koefoed2, Kai Sørensen2 (1) United
States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (2) Geological Survey of Denmark and
Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark
For purposes of resource assessment, the
East Greenland Shelf has been subdivided into several geologic areas, each of
which has specific structural and stratigraphic conditions that affect geologic
risk and control the sizes and numbers of undiscovered accumulations. One of
these, the Danmarkshavn Basin, is commonly covered by
sea ice and contains an undrilled sedimentary section more than 13km thick.
Analysis of outcrops, potential field data, and limited seismic lines suggests
that this stratigraphic succession includes thermally mature source rocks of
Late Jurassic age, numerous reservoir and seal possibilities and various
trapping geometries resulting from extensional tectonics, salt diapirism and
inversion. In addition to sea ice, risks to oil exploration include uncertainty
of hydrocarbon phase in potential traps, the chance that optimal source rock
and reservoir facies are missing and the possibility of post-migration loss of
oil during Cenozoic uplift. Exploration will entail extreme risk, but the East
Greenland Shelf has an upside potential that permits the presence of a great
petroleum province, with the possibility of billions of barrels of
oil-equivalent hydrocarbons. Of course, the quantity of undiscovered resources
is unknown; exploration will undoubtedly be one of the most challenging,
interesting and perhaps rewarding enterprises of the petroleum industry during
the next few decades.