Secondary migration routes in the Brent sandstones of the Viking graben and east Shetland basin: Evidence from oil residues and subsurface pressure data

Journal Article · Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)

OSTI ID:5858036

Miles, J A ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Reading (England)

The Viking Graben of the North Sea contains a major deltaic reservoir - the Brent Group. Within the Brent Group, the Etive Formation, a coastal barrier sand, is both areally continuous and has excellent porosity and permeability. It is sandwiched between the fine-grained micaceous sandstones of the Rannoch Formation below and the impermeable mudstones of the Ness Formation above. Consequently, the Etive Formation has acted as the most important regional conduit for secondary migration of Upper Jurassic sourced oils. Oil migration through time has left a heavy residue in the uppermost part of the formation. These residues are aromatic-asphaltic, but otherwise resemble locally reservoired oils. Migration-sensitive biological marker ratios obtained from the residues change with distance from source. Secondary migration route mapping, based on the movement of oil by buoyancy in well-defined, isolated pressure compartments, integrated with timing of oil generation, indicates that the Ninian field could be sourced from two areas - Late Cretaceous migration from the southeast in the Viking Graben and Tertiary migration from the west and southwest - explaining some of the contrasting reservoir and oil characteristics of the Ninian and Lyell fields. 15 figs., 1 tab.

• OSTI ID: 5858036
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Vol. 74:11; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
58 GEOSCIENCES
NORTH SEA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
ORIGIN
UNITED KINGDOM
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
JURASSIC PERIOD
MAPPING
MIGRATION
PERMEABILITY
POROSITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SILTSTONES
SOURCE ROCKS
TERTIARY PERIOD
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CENOZOIC ERA
EUROPE
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS
WESTERN EUROPE
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
580000 - Geosciences