A detailed evaluation of the Southern Grand Banks petroleum system offshore Atlantic Canada has identified a new oil presence, Applied Petroleum Technology (APT) reported Thursday.
The study revealed Lower Jurassic source rocks and a genetically related set of oil shows that until now had been unrecognized, APT noted in a written statement emailed to Rigzone. The Norway-based firm noted that it sampled and analyzed drill cuttings from 13 key Southern Grand Banks wells. It explained the actions enabled it to assess source potential and possible oil staining and evaluate thermal history, providing new insights about the potential of Lower Jurassic petroleum systems in the Northern Atlantic Canada region.
“Some of our geochemical analyses were conducted on drill cuttings that are almost 50 years old, which confirms that a lot of new information can be found in old materials,” remarked Martin Fowler, who heads APT’s Canadian operation, which oversaw the multiclient study.
APT noted the study has generated new Lower Jurassic source rock screening data, vitrinite and spore color maturity data and apatite thermochronology data. The company explained that apatite thermochronology is a method of recovering source rock’s time-temperature history – subsequently input for basin modeling. In addition, the firm stated that it conduced Lower Jurassic oil stain screening and characterization.
According to APT, it has compared the oil stain data with Jeanne d’Arc oils and Lower Jurassic oils stain data from the European conjugate (U.K., Ireland, Spain and Portugal). The company noted the comparison provides a unique data set to improve understanding of Lower Jurassic source presence in the North Atlantic domain. Also, it stated that it generated high-quality thermal calibration data that allows robust calibration of the burial histories across the study areas of interest.
“In Europe, intra-continental basins hosting Lower Jurassic source rocks are well known, sourcing commercial oil deposits in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and the U.K.,” Fowler commented. “However, to the South and West their occurrence is much less well understood. This study has for the first time demonstrated their continuation across the North Atlantic conjugate. It is obviously a big jump between identifying a new oil presence from geochemical analyses to making an actual discovery, but we hope that our analyses could be of interest to energy companies that are investigating opportunities offshore Canada.”
To contact the author, email mveazey@rigzone.com.
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