New seismic refines Brent field development possibilities

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997 · JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology

OSTI ID:536510

The Brent field, 99.4 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands in the U.K. sector of the North Sea, was discovered in 1971. Production began in 1976 from the Jurassic Brent and Statfjord reservoirs trapped in a westerly dipping monocline with slump (crystal collapse) features. Reserves are currently estimated at approximately 400 million bbl oil and 2.6 Tcf gas. A new development phase has started in which reservoir depressurization will gradually transform Brent from an oil- to a gas-producing field. Major efforts are now concentrated on locating and developing the field`s thin remaining oil rims. It became increasingly apparent over the last few years that the previous three-dimensional (3D)-seismic survey, shot in 1986, was insufficient to meet development demands. Reprocessing of this survey, carried out in 1989 and again in 1993, failed to improve the quality of the data significantly. A new, high-resolution 3D survey was acquired in 1995. A high-quality seismic data set before field depressurization may provide a suitable baseline survey for possible future time-lapse seismic surveys.

• OSTI ID: 536510
• Journal Information: JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology, Journal Name: JPT, Journal of Petroleum Technology Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 49; ISSN 0149-2136; ISSN JPTJAM
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
NATURAL GAS FIELDS
NORTH SEA
OIL FIELDS
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
SEISMIC SURVEYS