South Eastern Greenland — Understanding the Hydrocarbon Potential Using Recently Reprocessed 2-D Regional Seismic Data

Scaife, Gary N.¹; Billings, Andy ²
(1) Spectrum Geo Ltd, Woking, SURREY, United Kingdom. (2) Hornet Geoscience Ltd, London, United Kingdom.

Spectrum, in association with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), has reprocessed in early 2011 approximately 7800kms of vintage 2D seismic that was originally acquired by GEUS in the early 1980’s. The three surveys known as the NAD project cover the area from 62oN to 72oN and tie many of the ODP wells drilled between 1993 and 1995.

The study area is considered frontier in hydrocarbon terms, with only a limited regional wide spaced 2D seismic available and only a few ODP wells drilled. Onshore outcrop data and previous interpretations of the original vintage seismic data have suggested that the elements of a working hydrocarbon system could be present especially to the northern part of the study area where Kimmeridgian age-type source is reported to be present.

Eastern Greenland forms the conjugate margin to the Norwegian continental shelf, especially to the northern part of the study area where the petroliferous Voring and More basins could prove to be analogous.

Tertiary sediment thickness of up to 6km have been postulated in the northern parts of the study area and it is thought that possible Tertiary and Mesozoic aged reservoirs could be present in the form of fluvio/deltaic and submarine sandstones. Extensive offshore Lower Tertiary basalts observed on seismic sections in the northern portion are almost certain to overlie Mesozoic and Palaeocene sediments and are hoped to contain a working hydrocarbon system.

The seismic data covers part of the area which has already designated by Greenland’s Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) as being available for bidding in 2012 and 2013. The study area lies immediately south of the KANUMAS exploration area where a number of major E&P companies are participating in exploration studies. It is hoped that a number of play types currently being investigated in the KANUMAS area can be extrapolated south into Spectrum’s seismic study area.

A 2007 USGS assessment over this province has indicated undiscovered oil and gas reserves of 31,400 MMBOE (million barrels of oil equivalent). Detailed geological understanding of this part of Eastern Greenland is limited, and it is hoped that the reprocessed seismic datasets, along with selected well ties will provide further structural and stratigraphic insight into a frontier area where it is hoped the next generation of major hydrocarbon fields maybe found.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.