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AAPG Bulletin

Abstract

AAPG Bulletin, V. 96, No. 8 (August 2012), P. 15231552.

Copyright copy2012. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/01021211094

Present Jurassic petroleum charge facing Paleozoic biodegraded Previous HitoilNext Hit: Geochemical challenges and potential upsides, Embla field, North Sea

Sverre Ekrene Ohm,1 Dag A. Karlsen,2 Nghia T. Phan,3 Tor Strand,4 Gunnar Iversen5

1ConocoPhillips Norge; present address: ConocoPhillips, Subsurface Technology, 600 North Dairy Ashford, Houston, Texas 77079-1175; [email protected]
2University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; [email protected]
3University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; [email protected]
4ConocoPhillips Norge, P.O. Box 3, N-4064 Tananger, Norway; [email protected]
5ConocoPhillips Norge, P.O. Box 3, N-4064 Tananger, Norway; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The Embla field, located in the greater Ekofisk area of the Norwegian part of the southern North Sea, has been producing Previous HitoilNext Hit and gas since the early 1990s. The wells on the crest are the best and most continuous producers, whereas the wells on the flanks are only good producers over limited periods after pressure buildup. The reason for the poorer production from the flanks is reduced permeability caused by the presence of bitumen, a nonmovable biodegraded Previous HitoilNext Hit that fills the pore space. This Previous HitoilNext Hit is shown to be of Paleozoic age and is suggested to have charged the Embla field at the end of the Triassic. The structure was uplifted and eroded during the Jurassic, and the Paleozoic Previous HitoilNext Hit accumulation became biodegraded on the Previous HitoilNext Hit-water contact. The crest of the structure is believed to have been protected from biodegradation until the seal was eroded, which resulted in the escape of the Previous HitoilNext Hit and the biodegradation of the residual Previous HitoilNext Hit. Subsidence during the Cretaceous, the formation of a new seal, and the Upper Jurassic source Previous HitrockNext Hit intervals reaching Previous HitoilNext Hit window maturity resulted in the structure being recharged. Partly contradicting maturity estimates based on various biomarker ratios suggest that the analyzed oils represent different mixing ratios between the two Previous HitoilNext Hit generations. The change in light Previous HitoilNext Hit composition observed between the drill-stem tests sampled approximately 20 yr ago and the presently produced Previous HitoilNext Hit suggests that the Embla field currently is receiving Jurassic-sourced Previous HitoilNext Hit.

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