Regional Geology and Prospectivity of the Central Barents Sea

D. Van der Wel, Torbjørn Throndsen, and David Worsley
Sagex AS, Oslo, Norway

The regional geology and the petroleum potential of the central part of the Barents Sea, which also includes the Disputed Area between Russian and Norwegian waters, are attracting increased interest. No wells have yet been drilled within the Disputed Area; however, many wells have been drilled on the Norwegian and the Russian sectors. Well known nearby fields are the Norwegian Snøhvit and Goliath fields and the Russian Shtokman field.
An estimate of the resource potential of the Barents Sea by Statoil (2005) on the Norwegian and Russian sides respectively, reports 2 billion boe (proven)/ 8 billion boe (possible) and 16 billion boe (proven)/ 19 billion boe (possible). Statoil's estimate for the Disputed Area petroleum resource potential is 12 billion boe (possible).
The Central Barents Sea area covers the transition between two major geological provinces. The Russian eastern province shows a development linked to that of the Uralides and Novaja Zemlja. The Norwegian western province shows a complex tectonic evolution reflecting major tectonic processes along the western-northern margins of the Eurasian plate.
The exploration of the Norwegian and Russian Barents Seas confirms reservoir potential in Carboniferous to Jurassic. Source rocks are of Triassic and Jurassic age, but also Permian, Carboniferous and Devonian source rocks may be present. Maturity and hydrocarbon expulsion is discussed together with trapping, reservoir development and play models.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90072 © 2007 AAPG and AAPG European Region Conference, Athens, Greece