--> Abstract: Offshore Seepage Mapping from Satellite SAR Data in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Region : Potential for Hydrocarbon Exploration, by George Marchant and Richard Wright; #90130 (2011)

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Offshore Seepage Mapping from Satellite SAR Data in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Region : Potential for Hydrocarbon Exploration

George Marchant1 and Richard Wright2
1Exploration Services, Astrium Geo-Services, Leicester, United Kingdom.
2Oil & Gas, Nalcor Energy, St John's, NF, Canada.

Satellite data is an established tool in looking for natural oil seepage on the surface of the ocean. Astrium GEO-Information Services have analyzed satellite data, especially synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, to generate a systematic non-exclusive database of offshore oil slicks over the world’s offshore basins in water depths up to 3,000m, called Global Seeps. The technique is particularly suited to the Arctic region due to the remote location and lack of existing understanding of the main petroleum systems.

As part of this programme, Astrium and partner Nalcor Energy have produced an extensive study of potential seepage across the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area. The identified slick locations have been considered against the regional geological context and other data. Comparison of possible seeps with seismic data has shown a correlation between some surface oil slicks and seismic structural features, including one slick over a drilled discovery.

This work shows the potential and value of this low-cost technique for the exploration process in frontier regions such as the Arctic, and offers potentially valuable information for proving up active petroleum systems in basins across the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area. Similar results have been shown from the 2009 study on the Greenland side of Baffin Bay undertaken in partnership between Astrium and Nuna Oil. Further work is anticipated to target possible oil seeps with additional satellite passes adding confidence to the interpretation, and to analyze geochemical sampling of surface slicks using Gore sampler modules in conjunction with Near Real Time processed satellite images.

 

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

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