Abstract

The Skarfjell oil and gas discovery, situated 50 km north of the Troll Field in the NE North Sea, was discovered by well 35/9-7 and was appraised by three additional wells operated by Wintershall, in the period 2012–14.

The Skarfjell discovery is an example of a combined structural/stratigraphic trap. The trap formed along the northern edge of a deep WNW–ESE-trending submarine canyon, which was created by Volgian erosion of intra-Heather, Oxfordian-aged sandstones and then infilled with Draupne Formation shales. This mud-filled canyon forms the top and side seal, with the bottom seal provided by Heather shales. The reservoir comprises mid-Oxfordian deep-water turbidites and sediment gravity flows, which formed in response to tectonic hinterland uplift and erosion of the basin margin, 10–20 km to the east.

The Skarfjell discovery contains light oil and gas, and may be subdivided into Skarfjell West, in which the main oil reservoir and gas cap have known contacts, and Skarfjell Southeast, which comprises thinner oil and gas reservoirs with slightly lower pressure and unknown hydrocarbon contacts.

The Upper Jurassic Draupne and Heather formations are excellent source rocks in the study area. They have generated large volumes of oil and gas reservoired in fields, and discoveries for which the dominant source rock and its maturity have been established by oil to source rock correlation and geochemical biomarker analysis. The Skarfjell fluids were expelled from mid-mature oil source rocks of mixed Heather and Draupne Formation origin.

The recoverable resources are estimated at between 9 and 16 million standard cubic metres (Sm³) of recoverable oil and condensate, and 4–6 billion Sm³ of recoverable gas. The Skarfjell discovery is currently in the pre-development phase and is expected to come on stream in 2021.