skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Alba field - middle Eocene deep-water channel in U. K. North Sea

Conference · · AAPG Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6016456

The Alba field is located in the Witch Ground graben between the Fladen Ground spur to the north and the Renee Ridge to the south, entirely in UKCS Block 16/26. In 1985, oil was discovered in the middle Eocene sands of the Horda formation at a depth of 6100 ft subsea. Twelve additional wells, including sidetracks, have been drilled appraise the discovery. This drilling indicates the Alba field is a stratigraphic trap covering an area of 3600 ac. The Alba sands represent a brief interruption in the hemipelagic sedimentation that dominated this part of the Witch Ground graben during the middle Eocene. Sediment was supplied intermittently from a shelf area to the northwest into a deep-water environment. Well correlations, seismic facies analysis, and core analysis indicate that these sands were deposited as part of a constructional channel/levee complex within a mud-rich, shelf-sourced submarine fan system. The cap and the updip and lateral seals to the reservoir are shale. The Alba reservoir is predominantly a homogeneous, fine-grained, unconsolidated sand. The average reservoir porosity is 33% and the average permeability is 2.8 darcys. Oil in place is estimated to be 1.1 billion bbl of 20/degrees/ API crude.

Research Organization:
Chevron Exploration North Sea Ltd., London (England)
OSTI ID:
6016456
Report Number(s):
CONF-890404-
Journal Information:
AAPG Bull.; (United States), Vol. 73:3; Conference: AAPG annual convention with DPA/EMD Divisions and SEPM, San Antonio, TX, USA, 23-26 Apr 1989
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English