Understanding New Clastic Depositional Systems as a Basis for New Play Development in the Flemish Pass Basin, Offshore Newfoundland, Canada

Meryl Bonelli, Victor Vega, Thomas P. Buerkert, Wicaksono Prayitno, Jose Foucault, Clara Girona, and Massimo Bonora
Repsol E&P Canada Ltd, The Woodlands, TX.

The Flemish Pass Basin is an underexplored Jurassic rift basin located 400 km west of Newfoundland, Canada. The basin saw an early phase of exploration from 1979-1987 in which 8 exploratory wells were drilled into structural highs without success. During more recent activity, oil in economic quantities has been discovered in the Mizzen area further reviving interest in the basin. Conventional targets within the Jeanne D’Arc and Flemish Pass basins have been dominantly nearshore, marginal marine clastic reservoirs. More recent exploration has identified deepwater depositional systems as viable targets bringing new plays to these older, tested basins. With this concept in mind we have undertaken an evaluation of the distribution of lowstand systems tracts (LST) throughout the Mesozoic - Cenozoic sections. In this work we present our observations from the Tertiary section.

Integrating regional 2D seismic data with well control we have constructed a calibrated facies map which highlights the distribution of a lower Tertiary lowstand system tract (LST) deposit: from feeder channels to basin floor fans. Three facies were mapped, and their time thickness maps give clues to the evolution of the depositional system. The architectural style and size evident in the mapping suggest a mud/sand-rich system fed mainly from the south, with possible entry points in the north and northeastern edges of the basin. We interpret Facies 1 to be a channel-levee complex, as illustrated by series of amalgamated lenticular bodies in cross-section view. Facies 2 fills into the basin as lobes and basin floor fans, while Facies 3 overlies Facies 1 in the south and is mapped as a compensating facies filling in remaining accommodation space.

Three wells that have seen this section are located on the periphery of this system and encountered shales in this Tertiary LST consistent with their marginal setting, leaving this Tertiary basin floor fan system as an interesting exploration target within the Jeanne D’Arc and Flemish Pass Basins.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90130©2011 3P Arctic, The Polar Petroleum Potential Conference & Exhibition, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 30 August-2 September, 2011.