Promote Stratigraphic plays of

United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

Introduction
13% 7%
The majority of the fields and significant discoveries on the United Kingdom Continental
Shelf (UKCS) are found in structural traps, with just 13% in combination
structural/stratigraphic traps and only 7% in stratigraphic traps (Fig. 1). 80%
With respect to existing fields and discoveries, stratigraphic and combination traps occur
mainly within Upper Jurassic syn- and post-Jurassic post-rift play fairways (Fig. 2). Fields
and discoveries within pre-rift play fairways (Middle Jurassic and older) occur
predominantly in structural traps.
Although mounded deep-water channel and fan traps are in part structural, since
differential compaction often results in 4-way dip closures, the origin of such traps is Structural traps
stratigraphic, and they are designated as such in this evaluation. Many tilted fault block
traps have eroded crests, and thereby include a component of stratigraphic entrapment,
but most of such traps are essentially structural. Combination traps
What proportion of the yet-to-find resources on the UKCS is located within stratigraphic
or combination traps, and in which plays are these traps most likely to occur? Stratigraphic traps
The sheet-like geometry and sand-rich nature of many of the pre-rift reservoirs (Fig. 3)
make stratigraphic entrapment unlikely. Exceptions are combination traps like the Fig. 1 Proportion of trap types in UKCS
Carboniferous Tyne gas field complex, where the trap is defined by a combination of dip fields and discoveries (end 2008 data)
closure and erosional pinch-out of late Westphalian red beds beneath the base Permian
unconformity. The Ravenspurn North Field is an example of a combination stratigraphic
pinchout/dip trap at the margin of the Rotliegend (Lower Permian) play. The geometry
and lateral distribution of deep-water mass flow deposits are highly conducive to full or
partial stratigraphic entrapment; 50% of deep-water syn-rift reservoirs are located within
stratigraphic and combination traps. Major recent discoveries like Buzzard, an Upper
Jurassic stratigraphic pinchout/dip trap, are obvious analogues for future syn-rift targets,
but these require the development of a strong conceptual model.

Structural: e.g. Forties, Montrose, Andrew,

Structural: drape across fault blocks and salt structures. Machar, Foinaven
Combination: combined dip and stratigraphic pinchout traps, Combination: e.g. East Foinaven, Gannet
Paleogene F, Schiehallion
combined palaeogeomorphic and basement drape traps.
Stratigraphic: detached basin-floor channel and fan mounds. Stratigraphic: e.g. Alba, Frigg, Everest,
Gryphon, Harding, Pilot

Existing UKCS fields and discoveries are located mainly within

Post-rift

structural traps. However, an increasing number of traps have Structural: e.g. Kyle, Banff, Orion
Upper been shown to include a component of stratigraphic entrapment
Cretaceous Combination: e.g. Joanne, Fife, Flora
by low porosity reservoir units following post-charge trap tilting.
The Danish sector’s Halfdan Field is a ‘stratigraphic’ dynamic
constriction trap.
Many successfully tested structural closures have been found to
Structural: e.g. Hannay, Victory
have an element of stratigraphic entrapment, i.e. hydrocarbon-
Lower Combination: e.g. Britannia, Captain,
water contact is deeper than spill point. The Scapa Field is a Claymore, Cromarty, Goldeneye,
Cretaceous combination syncline and stratigraphic pinchout trap that was Scapa,
only discovered by accident during appraisal drilling on the Stratigraphic: e.g. Highlander
Claymore Field.

Trap type is highly variable. Many of the combination traps were Structural: e.g. Durward, East Brae, Janice,
Syn-rift

initially interpreted to be structural traps (e.g. Brae fields). Deep- Piper, Renee, Solan, Telford
Upper Combination: e.g. Kittiwake, Magnus,
water sandstone reservoirs commonly have an element of
Jurassic South, Central & North Brae
stratigraphic trapping; shallow-marine sandstones occur mainly
Stratigraphic: e.g. Dauntless, Highlander,
in structural traps. Miller, Tartan

Structural trap types predominate. Simple and complex tilted or Structural: e.g. Beatrice, Beinn, Brent,
Middle horst fault block traps; crestal slumping and degradation is Ninian, Seagull
Jurassic common in the Brent province (East Shetland Basin). Successful Combination: e.g. Beryl
hanging-wall traps are relatively uncommon.

Structural trap types predominate. Simple and complex tilted

Pre-rift

horst fault block traps; successful hanging-wall traps are

Triassic -
relatively rare. Commonly found stacked in the same trap with
Lower Jurassic overlying Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Triassic (Skagerrak
Formation) reservoirs in Central North Sea occur in salt-
controlled mini-basins.
Structural: e.g.Beryl, Esmond, Hewett,
Judy, Marnock, Morecambe, Statfjord
Combination: e.g. Kittiwake, Strathmore

Structural: e.g. Argyll, Buchan, Clair, Innes,

Almost entirely structural traps found. Reservoirs range from Leman, Murdoch
Palaeozoic fractured basement rocks, through Devonian, Carboniferous and Combination: e.g. Auk, Tyne complex,
Permian strata. Murdoch K (CMS-III), Ravenspurn
North

Fig. 2 Proportion of trap types in UKCS fields and discoveries (end 2008 data) Modified after Stoker et al. (2006)
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

AGE ATLANTIC MARGIN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NORTH SEA SOUTHERN NORTH SEA
NEOGENE
POST-RIFT

PALEOGENE

CRETA-
CEOUS ?

SYN-
RIFT
JURASSIC

TRIASSIC
PRE-RIFT

PERMIAN

CARBON-
IFEROUS

DEVONIAN
? Proven reservoir unit
PRE-DEVONIAN Source rock unit
Sandstone (fluvial/aeolian) Sandstone (basin-floor) Evaporite
Sandstone/mudstone/coal (deltaic) Carbonate Volcanics
Sandstone (shallow-marine) Mudstone Basement

Fig. 3 Simplified stratigraphy and lithofacies in UKCS oil and gas basins

100
Structural traps
Fig. 4 Field size distribution chart for
UKCS fields and discoveries in structural
80 Stratigraphic &
Number of discoveries

traps, and in stratigraphic and combination traps

combination traps (end 2008 statistics).
The relatively flat to irregular distribution for
the stratigraphic and combination trap 60
population is suggestive of an immature
population.
Modified after Stoker et al. 2006. 40

20

0
4-8 8-16 16-32 32-64 64- 128- 256- 512- 1024- >2048
128 256 512 1024 2048
Field/discovery size (x106 BOE in place)

Reference:
Stoker, SJ, Gray, JC, Haile, P, Andrews, IJ & Cameron, TDJ. 2006. The importance of stratigraphic plays in the undiscovered resources of the UK Continental Shelf. In: Allen,
M.R., Goffey, G.P., Morgan, R.K. & Walker, I.M. (eds). The Deliberate Search for the Stratigraphic Trap. Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 254, 153-167.
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

Paleogene stratigraphic plays 56°50N

132/8 132/9

Half of all Paleogene UKCS hydrocarbon discoveries occur in traps with

full or partial stratigraphic entrapment (Fig 2). This is because the majority
of Paleogene reservoirs are deep-water sandstones, whose geometry
commonly lends itself to stratigraphic entrapment. Stratigraphic pinch-out
traps generally occur where Paleogene sandstones onlap and pinchout
onto the flanks of basin-margin highs, as exemplified by the Everest and
Fleming fields adjacent to the Jaeren High in the Central North Sea
(O'Connor and Walker 1993) and the Laggan discovery on the eastern
margin of the Faeroe-Shetland Basin.
Combination traps offer the best potential, as a link to structure
dramatically increases a stratigraphic prospect's chance of success. The
most promising traps tend to either have a palaeogeomorphic component
or are linked to an amplitude or AVO anomaly. The use of AVO has had
mixed success in the West of Shetland area, where true Class III
Lead 132/8A
(increasing amplitude with offset angle) anomalies have proved elusive. In
the future, the use of electromagnetic imaging techniques may be
important in the further derisking of stratigraphic traps.

9°36W
In the Faroe-Shetland Basin, the search for stratigraphic traps has

9°24W
concentrated on Vaila Formation (Paleocene) sandstones beneath the
Kettla Tuff, which, with adjacent claystones, acts as a regional seal. The 56°40N
Yellow / red = high amplitude
reservoirs are known informally in BP T-zone terminology as the T31-T35 Blue = low amplitude 2 km
sandstones. In the Judd Sub-basin, the Foinaven Field, in stratigraphically
MC3D seismic data courtesy of PGS
equivalent strata, is a faulted anticline with elements of stratigraphic pinch-
out on its south-east margin. Fig. 6 Seismic attribute map (RMS amplitude within a window
10-300 ms above the top Balder Formation) showing the limit of
Stratigraphic or combination traps are the a stratigraphic trap, Lead 132/8A. High amplitudes are
focus of current Paleogene exploration in the interpreted as due to the presence of Eocene mass-flow
North Sea, where only small 4-way dip sandstones within slope channels. See more of Lead 132/8A
Northern
Paleogene traps remain untested. They form Lead North
a particularly important component of 132/8A Sea
Lead 132/8A: an Eocene slope channel mass-flow
remaining Paleogene prospects along the
Atlantic Margin province, where they have sandstone trap
the potential to contribute significantly to the
remaining 7.3 bboe undiscovered reserves Several examples of Eocene channel systems are clearly imaged
currently predicted by DECC (2010; on seismic data from the eastern slope margin and floor of the
web-link) for this province. Rockall Basin. The Tobermory gas discovery has been made within
UK contemporary basin-floor fan deposits in the Faroe-Shetland Basin.
For the Rockall Basin examples, the presence of an effective
migration route from Jurassic and/or unproven mid-Cretaceous
source rocks is the principal exploration risk.
SW NE

Top T60 VIKING GRABEN

9/12-3 Mousa Fm
Top T50

Balder Fm
Bressay 9/3-1 & Hermod Mbr
EOCENE Frigg,
9/21-2 Nuggets
Dornoch Fm
To
p
T4
Gryphon,
5 Harding p T60
To
Heimdal Mbr Horda Fm
Frigg Mbr
9/2-1
Teal (& Hermod) Mbrs
Mariner, Lista Fm
Teal Mbr Sele Fm
Top T30
9/12-3 &
9/12b-6 Devonian Heimdal Mbr Top T20
resting on
Caledonian PALEOCENE Lista Fm
basement

hetlan d Group
E
EAST SHETLAND CRETAC OUS S
R
Maureen Fm PE
PLATFORM UP Depositional system
0 Sandy Braid Delta
T2
se
Regional sequence Ba Sandy Delta Front / Shallow Shelf
boundary Slope
Stratigraphic trap Basin-floor fan
Combination trap Prodelta / Basin

Fig. 5 Schematic sequence stratigraphic section showing Paleogene depositional system and trap types, Northern North Sea
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS
Interlobe area drilled by
The Everest Field: a successful stratigraphic 22/9-1 six years before
pinch-out trap, Central North Sea discovery of the field
SW NE
The Everest Field is a complex of laterally-offset, stacked
Depth
gas-condensate reservoirs in the Paleocene Maureen (feet)
Formation and Mey (Andrew) and Forties Sandstone
Members where they pinch out laterally on the western 8500
flank of the Jaeren High, in the Central North Sea (Fig. 7). GWC
The Forties Sandstone Member is separated into two OWC
Forties GOC
lobes by an interlobe area of sand-poor sediments that 9000
was drilled in 1975 by the first exploration well (22/9-1),
hence delaying discovery of the field.
Mey 9500
Upper Cretaceous
Laggan
en
discovery Maure Chalk Group
10000

Triassic Jaeren High

Everest
Field Lower
Cretaceous

UK Fig. 7 Geoseismic section across the Everest Field (after O’Connor

and Walker, 1993)

The Laggan gas discovery: a successful stratigraphic trap with an associated amplitude anomaly, Faroe-
Shetland Basin
Shell well 206/1-2 discovered the Laggan gas accumulation in 1986. Ten years later Total drilled a second well on Laggan (206/1-3 was
located 4 km to the southwest of 206/1-2). Both wells encountered gas within good quality sequence T35 sands. T35 sands have high porosity,
high permeability, and have ubiquitous chlorite grain coating, enhancing porosity of the sands.

Currently, it is difficult to separate out anomalously high seismic

amplitudes associated with gas to those related to the high porosity but
water-wet sandstone. High amplitudes extend beyond the GWC. The
205/5b updip limit of the gas accumulation is a pinch-out against a northeast
Chevron trending growth fault, which also coincides with the high amplitude cut-
off (Figs. 8 & 9).

NW 206/1-3 SE
TWT
(Secs)

206/2b 1

205/5a
Total

2
Top Balder Fm
Fi
gu
re
9

Laggan
amplitude anomaly
Map courtesy of Total
3
Top Kettla Tuff
Fig. 8 Laggan amplitude anomaly

Top Cretaceous
206/1-3 2 km 4

Seismic data courtesy of Total

Fig. 9 Seismic section across the Laggan gas discovery
Paleogene references:
Ahmadi, ZM, Sawyers, M, Kenyon-Roberts, S, Stanworth, CW, Kugler, KA, Kristensen, J, and Fugelli, EMG. 2003. Paleocene. 235-259 in The Millennium Atlas: petroleum geology of the central
and northern North Sea. Evans, D, Graham, C, Armour, A, and Bathurst, P (editors and coordinators). (London: The Geological Society of London)
Jones, E, Jones, R, Ebdon, C, Ewen, D, Milner, P, Plunkett, J, Hudson, G, and Slater, G. 2003. Eocene. 261-277 in The Millennium Atlas: petroleum geology of the central and northern North
Sea. Evans, D, Graham, C, Armour, A, and Bathurst, P (editors and coordinators). (London: The Geological Society of London)
O’Connor, SJ, and Walker, D. 1993. Paleocene reservoirs of the Everest trend. In: Parker, JR (ed.) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference. The Geological
Society, London, pp. 145-160.
Underhill, JR. 2001. Controls on the genesis and prospectivity of Paleogene palaeogeomorphic traps, East Shetland Platform, UK North Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 18, pp. 259-
281.
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS
Block
W 132/17 Block 132/18 Block 132/19 E
Upper Cretaceous
Lead 132/18A
TWT sandstone stratigraphic
(s)
Top Balder
Formation
play, Atlantic Margin
3.5
Drilled and undrilled Cenomanian/Turonian
sandstone (Commodore Formation; Ritchie
et al. 1996) three-way dip closed and
stratigraphic traps have been documented in
Top the Faroe-Shetland Basin (Grant et al. 1999,
Cretaceous 4.0
Loizou et al. 2006). Here, Commodore
Sill
Formation sandstones 1010 ft thick were
initially encountered in well 206/3-1, and
follow-up well 206/4-1 proved a gross
sandstone thickness of 1786 ft. The
Sill
4.5 sandstone interval penetrated by these wells
High amplitude intra-
Upper Cretaceous event
may represent high-
corresponds to a reflective package on
?Intra Lower
Sill Cretaceous Top
density turbidite seismic data, and seismic attribute mapping
sandstones analogous
basement to those of Turonian showed the sandstone distribution to be in a
age in the Faroe- set of lobate bodies interpreted as submarine
?Near base Shetland Basin (Grant
Cretaceous et al.1999).
5.0
fans (Grant et al. op. cit.). These fans lie in the
hanging-wall of the Rona Ridge, and were
shed northwestwards off the ridge.
2 km
MC3D seismic data courtesy of PGS
On the basis of seismic attribute mapping,
Fig. 10 W-E seismic profile across Lead 132/18A, an intra-Upper Cretaceous Loizou et al. (2006) identified an analogous
(?Cenomanian-Turonian) deep water mass-flow sandstone trap in the South Rockall untested potential Upper Cretaceous
Basin identified from a seismic amplitude anomaly adjacent to the basin-margin. sandstone stratigraphic trap on the western
side of the Corona Ridge (Lead 213/20A).
Lead
213/20 206/3-1
206/4-1 9°36'W 9°24’W

ic
nt in
tla arg
Lead
A
M 132/18 132/19
132/18A

Lead 132/18A
UK

Seismic mapping across block 132/18 in the Sill 132 2 km

South Rockall Basin has enabled the recognition
of another intra-Upper Cretaceous amplitude
anomaly (Figs. 10 & 11). The area of high
amplitudes has a lobate shape located in the
hanging-wall of the basin margin fault, and it is
interpreted to represent overlapping slope-fan Fig. 10
lobes shed westwards off the adjacent Outer
Hebrides Platform.
UK
These interpreted Upper Cretaceous fan Ireland
sandstones in block 132/18 lie in a structural Seismic
setting directly analogous to the fan sandstones survey
proven by well 206/3-1 and 206/4-1 in the Faroe- join
Shetland Basin adjacent to the Rona Ridge. They
form the basis for Lead 132/18A featured on the 56°20'N
Promote UK 2010 CD.
Sill
Upper Cretaceous references:
Grant, N., Bouma, A. & McIntyre, A. 1999. The Turonian play in
the Faroe-Shetland Basin. In: Fleet, A.J. & Boldy, S.A.R.
(eds) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Yellow / red = high amplitude
Proceedings of the 5th Conference, 661-673. Geological Purple / blue = low amplitude
Society, London.

Loizou, N., Andrews, I.J., Stoker, S.J. & Cameron, D. 2006. MC3D seismic data courtesy of PGS
West of Shetland revisted: the search for stratigraphic
traps. In: Allen, M.R., Goffey, G.P., Morgan, R.K. & Walker,
I.M. (eds) The Deliberate Search for the Stratigraphic Trap. Fig. 11 Seismic attribute map (amplitude extraction at intra-Upper Cretaceous horizon)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 254, 225- showing an amplitude anomaly that is ascribed to the presence of Late Cretaceous
245.
(?Cenomanian/Turonian) mass-flow sandstones within overlapping slope-fan lobes.
Ritchie, J.D., Gatliff, R.W. & Riding, J.L. 1996. The See section 4 of Promote UK 2011 CD for details of this lead (click here).
Lithostratigraphy of the pre-Tertiary of the North West
Margin, British Geological Survey, Edinburgh.
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

Fig. 12 Late Ryazanian-Barremian fairway

Lower Cretaceous stratigraphic Shetland
plays Platform Scapa, Claymore ? 50 km
12 13 14 Highlander
76% of UKCS Lower Cretaceous fields and
Fladen
discoveries are located within combination or 15 Ground 16
stratigraphic traps. The limited lateral and vertical MORAY FIRTH Spur
distribution of coarse clastics within the Lower
Cretaceous section gives considerable opportunity Halibut Horst
for full or partial stratigraphic entrapment. The mass-
flow genesis of much of the Lower Cretaceous
coarse-clastic sediment means that mounding, 18
enhanced by differential compaction, provides the Blake Forties-
Montrose
22
mechanism for palaeogeomorphic entrapment. High
19 20 21
The Scapa and Britannia fields and the Lower Scotland
Cretaceous part of the Highlander Field were found East
by serendipity during drilling to deeper, structural Central
Graben
Jurassic targets. Each of these discoveries is located
within a low or syncline, and has a strong
stratigraphic trapping component. Since seismic West West
Central Central
imaging of Lower Cretaceous sandstones in the North Shelf Graben
Sea is commonly poor, a robust depositional model
must be developed from well and other data, or more 25 26 27
sophisticated seismic techniques need to be 28 29 Auk
employed. Morgan et al. (2002) and Morgan and High
Went (2004) showed that anomalous AVO effects can Study
area
30
be recognised from long-offset (6 km) 3D seismic data Devil’s Hole
within channel-like features and lobate, fan-like Sandstone
bodies, which can be implied to represent the
Latest Ryazanian-Barremian Member

presence of sandstones. Shallow marine Mass flow sandstone Hinterland / intra-basinal high
shelf / slope (modified after (erosion or non-deposition)
Copestake et al.
The established Lower Cretaceous deep-marine Deep marine 2003)
Field / discovery
sandstone play fairway of the UK North Sea is mostly basin
Possible mass
limited to the Moray Firth basins (Figs. 12 & 13). Shallow shelf flow sandstone Possible sediment
Although Lower Cretaceous sandstones have been sandstone (this study) transport route
found in 131 wells within the UK Central Graben area
outside the established fairways, there has been little
direct exploration of this play in those areas. Milton-
Worssell et al. (2006) suggest that the potential exists
for at least 26 undrilled Lower Cretaceous deep-water
Fig. 13 Aptian-Albian fairway
stratigraphic leads in the Central Graben area.
Shetland
Platform Goldeneye, Hannay
12 13 14
50 km
Saltire
Fladen
16
Captain MORAY 15 Ground
Spur

Witch
Halibut Horst Ground
Graben
FIRTH Britannia
Fisher
18 South
Bank
Basin
Buchan Brodgar
See also poster: Basin
Lower Cretaceous deep-water Blake
19
FMH 22
sand plays, UK Central Graben
20 21
Scotland
Cromarty, Atlantic
East
Central
Graben

West West
Central Central
Shelf Graben
25 26 27 28 29
Study
area
Auk 30
High

Aptian-Albian play
Key as above, Possible mass flow
except for right sandstone (modified
after Oakman 2005)
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS
Upper Jurassic deep-water sandstone stratigraphic
5 km
plays
Fladen
Ground East
Upper Jurassic sandstones are widely developed in the UKCS rift basins; however, the Spur Brae
earliest Upper Jurassic sandstones (e.g. Piper and Fulmar formations) are deltaic to
shallow-marine sediments that pre-date the main rifting phase. Syn-rift clastics are 16/2 16/3

predominantly deep-water mass-flow deposits (e.g. Brae Formation and Burns and
Claymore Sandstone members in the Viking Graben and Moray Firth), whose lateral North
distribution and geometry is highly conducive to at least partial stratigraphic entrapment. Brae
Kingfisher
Upper Jurassic syn-rift clastics are interbedded with the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, a Central
world-class oil source rock that has generated much of the oil in the North Sea. Fraser et Brae
al. (2003) have summarised the range of trap types in which Upper Jurassic reservoirs
Miller
have been found. South
Brae
16/7 16/8
The Brae complex and Miller fields are examples of combined structural and
South Oil field
stratigraphic pinch-out traps that were originally conceived to be structural traps. In the
Viking Condensate
South Viking Graben, Upper Jurassic coarse clastics of the Brae Formation form a Larch Graben field
number of overlapping fan bodies (Figs. 17 & 18). The South, Central and North Brae
fields were initially obvious targets, since each has substantial 4-way dip closure due to Fig. 17 Overlapping Upper Jurassic fans of the
Brae-Miller area, South Viking Graben
compactional drape. However, testing of the Brae structures found that the oil-water Incorporating information from: Garland (1993), Roberts
contacts were much deeper than the spill point of the structural closures mapped, and (1991), Stephenson (1991) and Turner & Allen (1991)
appraisal drilling confirmed the importance of stratigraphic pinch-out at these fields
(Roberts 1991, Stephenson 1991, Turner & Allen 1991).
1 km

zone
Many of the Upper Jurassic deep-water sandstone reservoirs within stratigraphic pinch-
out traps are located above an underlying structural trap (e.g. ‘Hot Lens’ reservoir of the

fault
Tartan Field, Fig. 19). Predicting the distribution and pinch-out of such deep-water
sandstones is critical to this play, and relies on the development of a well-grounded
Central

argin
conceptual model since these reservoirs are typically poorly-resolved on seismic data. Brae
The discovery of the large Buzzard Field, a stratigraphic pinch-out trap located on the 16/8a 16/8c

en m
southern margin of the Moray Firth Basin (Doré 2002), is a testament to the potential for
spectacular success in this play.
Miller
Grab

Fraser et al. (2003) suggest that Upper Jurassic deep-water reservoirs may be the most
g

important exploration play for the future.

Vikin

16/8e

South
Brae/
Brae
Miller
16/7a 16/7b 16/7c 16/8b 16/8f

Dip closure Stratigraphic pinchout

Tartan
Field Fig. 18 Stratigraphic trapping importance at the South Brae,
Central Brae and Miller fields, South Viking Graben
Incorporating information from: Garland (1993), Roberts (1991) and Turner &
Allen (1991)
UK

9000 9000
Depth
South Tartan Field upthrown block Tartan Field downthrown block North Depth
(feet) (feet)
y
ormit
ous unconf Upper Jurassic Hot Lens Upper Jurassic
10000 Base Cretac e 10000
OWC Kimmeridge Piper
Clay Formation Formation

11000 rous 11000

s Carbonife
iferou
Carbon Base
Cret aceous unconform
Hot Lens ity
Middle Permo-
12000 Jurassic Triassic OWC 12000
1000 ft

After Moseley (1999)

13000 13000
Fig. 19 Stratigraphic entrapment of the Upper Jurassic ‘Hot Lens’ reservoir at the Tartan Field, Moray Firth
Upper Jurassic deep-water references:
Doré, G. 2002. The Buzzard Field - an overlooked North Sea giant. Extended abstracts, Petex 2002 CD-ROM
Fraser, SI, Robinson, AM, Johnson, HD, Underhill, JR, Kadolsky, DGA, Connell, R, Johannessen, P, and Ravnås, R. 2003. Upper Jurassic. 157-189 in The Millennium Atlas: petroleum
geology of the central and northern North Sea. Evans, D, Graham, C, Armour, A, and Bathurst, P (editors and coordinators). (London: The Geological Society of London).
Garland, CR. 1993. Miller Field: reservoir stratigraphy and its impact on development. In: Parker, JR (ed.) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 4th Conference,
Geological Society, London, pp. 231-240.
Moseley, BA. 1999. Downthrown closures of the Outer Moray Firth. In: Fleet, AJ and Boldy, SAR (eds) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 5th Conference,
Geological Society, London. pp. 861-878.
Roberts, MJ. 1991. The South Brae Field, Block 16/7a, UK North Sea. 49-54 in Abbotts, IL (ed.), United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields, 25 Years Commemorative Volume, Geological
Society Memoir No. 14.
Stephenson. 1991. The Kopervik fairway, Moray Firth, UK. Petroleum Geoscience, Vol. 6, pp. 265-274.
Turner, CC and Allen, PJ. 1991. The Central Brae Field, Block 16/7a, UK North Sea. 49-54 in Abbotts, IL (ed.), United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields, 25 Years Commemorative Volume,
Geological Society Memoir No. 14.
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

Upper Jurassic shallow- SW NE

marine sandstone 1 km
TWT

stratigraphic play (s)

Upper Jurassic shallow-marine sandstones 0.5

(Fulmar Formation) occur within stratigraphic and Eocene and
Top Sele younger
combination traps on the West Central Shelf of the Formation
UK Central North Sea (e.g. Dauntless and
Kittiwake oil fields).

Fulmar Formation sandstones are thought to have

been deposited within and at the edges of marine
embayments that formed in response to the
Base
dissolution of underlying salt diapirs (Stewart & Cretaceous Top Chalk
Clark 1999, Stewart et al. 1999, Fraser et al. 2003). Group 1.0
In much the same way, underlying Triassic fluvial
sandstones of the Skagerrak Formation are
believed to have developed within palaeo-valleys
located along the crests of dissolving salt walls and Triassic Smith
Top Bank Formation Base Upper
diapirs. Within this model of deposition, potential Zechstein Gp Jurassic
Triassic and Upper Jurassic sandstone reservoirs
are thought to lie above the salt walls/diapirs, but Lead 28/12B
not above the structurally higher minibasins or
‘pods’ of Triassic mudstone which formed between
Seismic data courtesy of WesternGeco
the salt highs (Fig. 20; Stewart et al. 1999).
Fig. 20 Seismic line across a combination trap associated with a salt diapir
(Lead 28/12A, see Fig. 21). Stratigraphic pinchout / facies change across the
palaeo-low formed by salt dissolution defines the limit of the trap.

0°00’E 1°00’E
Mapping of pseudo topography as described by
20 21 22 Stewart et al. (1999) offers a good insight into the
location of potentially attractive leads in the West
Central Shelf Fulmar Formation play (Fig. 21).
West
Central
Graben Go to: Lead 28/4B Go to: Lead 28/12B
(mature
Upper Go to: Lead 28/15A Go to: Lead 29/11A
Jurassic
source
Data 57°00’N
Lead gap rocks)
Devil’s 28/4B
Hole Data
gap
Horst

27 28 29
Fig. 21
Li
m
it
of
st

UK
ud
y

Lead West Lead

28/12B 28/15A
Central
Shelf Fig. 21 Pseudo topography of pre-Late Jurassic (cf.
Stewart et al. 1999, their Fig. 19) across the West
Lead Central Shelf showing the leads located in unlicensed
29/11A acreage and featuring on this Promote UK CD-ROM.
Note that the apparent low topography is an artifact of
the pseudo topography generation method across the
Devil’s Hole Horst, and the south-western part of the
High Low West Central Shelf where the Zechstein comprises a
Topography thin, stable platform-type section.

Upper Jurassic shallow-marine references:

Fraser, SI, Robinson, AM, Johnson, HD, Underhill, JR, Kadolsky, DGA, Connel, R, Johannessen, P & Ravnas, R. 2003. Upper Jurassic. In: Evans, D, Graham, C, Armour, A, and Bathurst, P
(eds), The Millennium Atlas: petroleum geology of the central and northern North Sea. Geological Society, London, 157-189.
Stewart, SA & Clark, JA. 1999. Impact of salt on the structure of the Central North Sea hydrocarbon fairways. In: Fleet, AJ & Boldy, SAR (eds) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe:
Proceedings of the 5th Conference, Geological Society, London, 179-200.
Stewart, SA, Fraser, SI, Cartwight, JA, Clark, JA & Johnson, HD. 1999. Controls on Upper Jurassic sediment distribution in the Durward-Dauntless area, UK Blocks 21/11, 21/16. In: Fleet,
AJ & Boldy, SAR (eds) Petroleum Geology of Northwest Europe: Proceedings of the 5th Conference, Geological Society, London, 879-896.
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS
East Midland Sole Pit Basin Silverpit
Palaeozoic stratigraphic plays Shelf Basin

Permian
Nearly all of the Rotliegend (Lower Permian) fields and discoveries in Offshore
extension of
the UKCS are entirely structural in trap configuration due to the sheet- Market
Weighton
like aspect of the Leman Sandstone Formation. The potential for Granite
100m
stratigraphic pinch-out traps around the basin margins is Inde
demonstrated by the cross-section and block diagram in Figures 22 50m High
Dowsing Fault
and 23. To date, only the Ravenspurn North Field in the Southern Zone Carboniferous
0 From: Glennie (1998)
North Sea Gas Basin documents the success of the stratigraphic
Fluvial Leman Sandstone Sabkha
pinch-out play, with entrapment a combination of faulting, dip, and Silverpit
Formation (seal)
Aeolian Formation (reservoir) Playa lake
reservoir pinch-out to the north-west (Ketter 1991). Reduced
reservoir thickness and quality is a significant risk in such basin- Fig. 22 Rotliegend Group: schematic facies development,
margin pinch-out plays. Southern North Sea Gas Basin
Sabkha / Silverpit
Palaeotopographic lake margin
high with thin, patchy Permian references:
aeolian sands preserved
Dominant Glennie, KW. 1998. Lower Permian - Rotliegend. 137-173 in: Glennie, KW (ed.)
wind Petroleum Geology of the North Sea: basic concepts and recent advances.
direction Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford.
Ketter, FJ. 1991. The Ravenspurn North Field, Blocks 42/30, 43/26a, UK North Sea. In:
Abbotts, IL. (ed.) United Kingdom Oil and Gas Fields, 25 Years Commemorative
Volume, Geological Society Memoir 14, pp. 459-467.
Munns, J.W., Gray, J.C., Stoker, S.J., Andrews, I.J. & Cameron, T.D.J. 2005. The
remaining hydrocarbon potential of the UK Continental Shelf. In: Doré, AG & Vining,
Post- BA (eds) Petroleum Geology: North-West Europe and Global Perspectives-
depositional Proceedings of the 6th Petroleum Geology Conference, Geological Society, London,
tilt 41-54.
Leeward Windward
s
accumulation of ou accumulation of
aeolian sands ifer
rb on aeolian sands
Prospective reservoir Ca Prospective reservoir

Fig. 23 Schematic diagram to illustrate structural control on

Leman Sandstone stratigraphic pinch-out trap (after Munns et
al. 2005)
Fig. 24

43 Lower Permian fairway UK

44 (no Carboniferous topseal)
Ketch Member
(Westphalian C-D red beds
sub-fairway)
UK
ds

Westphalian C-D red beds

erlan

present beneath Lower

Permian fairway Carboniferous
Neth

Hawksley Tyne Westphalian coal-measure

source rocks present Most of the UKCS Carboniferous fields and discoveries are in
Munro
Westphalian coal-measure
structural traps top-sealed by unconformably-overlying Permian
Kelvin source rocks absent strata. However, at the Tyne gas field complex in the Southern
Rita
Gas Basin, the trap is a combination of dip and erosional
Minke Gas field / discovery with
Boulton
Murdoch K
Ketch Member reservoir truncation beneath the base Permian unconformity. Where such
Orca combination traps have no associated structural closure on the
Schooner Ketch base Permian, intraformational seals are required. In the
0 20 km example in Figure 25, the Carboniferous reservoirs dip in the
48 49 Topaz
opposite direction to the base of the Permian, and only an intra-
Carboniferous top seal is needed. If the base Permian and
Carboniferous beds dip in the same direction, an intraformational
Fig. 24 Ketch Member (Late Westphalian, Carboniferous) play fairway, bottom seal would be required.
Southern North Sea Gas Basin (after Cameron et al. 2005)
Much of the Westphalian B interval is mud-prone, and offers
SW NE good sealing capacity. The upper part of the Ketch Member (Fig.
Upper Permian Zechstein Group 24) is at least locally mud-prone, and likewise a good potential
depth (km)

(Evaporite seal) seal (Fig. 25). Intraformational seals within the Upper Namurian
Subsea

and Westphalian A are not well-developed, so the Ketch Member

n Silverpit Fm (seal)
Permia and Caister Sandstone unit remain the most attractive
Lower
Carboniferous targets for erosional truncation traps. The heavily
fault-compartmentalised configuration of the Carboniferous
4
W

means that the majority of Carboniferous traps will rely to some

es
tp

extent upon fault seal also.

hal
ia
W

Caister
n

Westphalian
es

Sandstone
tp

C-D red beds

ha

unit (Ketch Mbr)

lia

Carboniferous reference:
n
A

Namurian
and older Cameron, TDJ, Munns, JR, and Stoker, SJ. 2005. Remaining exploration potential
of the Carboniferous fairway, UK Southern North Sea. In: Collinson, JD,
5 Evans, DJ, Holliday, DW & Jones, NS. (eds) Carboniferous hydrocarbon
resources: the southern North Sea and surrounding areas. Occasional
Fig. 25 Potential erosional truncation stratigraphic traps Publication, 7, Yorkshire Geological Society. 209-224.
(no structural closure at base Permian unconformity).
Modified after Cameron et al. (2005)
Promote Stratigraphic plays of
United Kingdom 2011 the UKCS

Summary
Stratigraphic and combination traps account for only 18% of existing fields and discoveries.
Many of the stratigraphic traps have been found entirely by chance whilst drilling towards other
targets
Few substantial undrilled structural traps remain in the UK North Sea
Upper Jurassic syn-rift and Cretaceous to Paleogene post-rift deep-water plays offer the greatest
potential for stratigraphic entrapment
Pre-rift plays offer little stratigraphic potential, focused mainly in Carboniferous plays
Deep-water sandstones with limited lateral distribution constitute the principal reservoir in
stratigraphic plays. Well-grounded conceptual models for reservoir distribution are required for
trap prediction. Seismic data may not adequately resolve the stratigraphic trap at the exploration
phase
Around 55% of the UK’s undiscovered resources are predicted to lie in stratigraphic or
combination traps

100
Structural traps

80 Stratigraphic &
Fig. 26 Field size distribution chart for UKCS fields and
Number of discoveries

combination traps
discoveries in structural traps, and in stratigraphic and
combination traps (as of end 2008).
60
Possible total A speculative curve shows a possible total population of
population of accumulations within stratigraphic and combination traps, and
accumulations indicates the potential field size distribution of the undiscovered
40 in stratigraphic
and combination resources in such traps.
traps
20
Modified after Stoker et al. 2006.

0
4-8 8-16 16-32 32-64 64- 128- 256- 512- 1024- >2048
128 256 512 1024 2048
Field/discovery size (x106 BOE in place) Estimated % of total Yet-
Find in stratigraphic
to-
Paleogene and combination traps
Fig. 27 Summary of proportion of trap types in UKCS fields Post-rift
Post-rift

and discoveries and estimated proportion of total yet-to-

find resources in stratigraphic and combination traps. Upper
Cretaceous 33%
Trap types within fields and discoveries, discovery curves and
geological models for each gross play have been considered as
a means of estimating the proportion of stratigraphic and Lower
combination traps in the undiscovered resource population. Cretaceous
Modified after Stoker et al. 2006. Structural traps
Syn-rift
Syn-rift

Combination traps
Upper
Stratigraphic traps
Jurassic 17%
Middle
Jurassic
Reference: Pre-rift
Pre-rift

Triassic -
Stoker, SJ, Gray, JC, Haile, P, Andrews, IJ & Cameron, TDJ. 2006. The
importance of stratigraphic plays in the undiscovered resources of
Lower
Jurassic
5%
the UK Continental Shelf. In: Allen, MR, Goffey, GP, Morgan, RK &
Walker, IM (eds). The deliberate search for the stratigraphic trap.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 254, 153-167. Palaeozoic

The material presented on this panel is for information only. Whilst every effort has been made to
ensure that the information provided is accurate, it does not constitute legal, technical or
professional advice.
For more information contact:
Joy Gray Email: joy.gray@decc.gsi.gov.uk
Peter Haile Email: peter.haile@decc.gsi.gov.uk