SW

UK l NORWAY
A
APPROHS
FOURTH
'
ACHâ
)
f E

? E
S

t L L L
t

Figure 33.3. Eaat-west cross auction A-A’ across the Central Graben (GECO line CGT-81-OB after Spencer et at., 19B6a).
See Figure 3 1 for location of crocs section and Figure 33.10 for the burial history cherL Pre-dft, syn-rift, and post-
riR sedimentary rocks are shown ontt›e right.

the most productive example. The reservoir models claim the rift formed earlier, in the Triassic
sandstones of the Paleogene and Upper Jurassic are (FLsher and Mudge, 1990), in Permian tGlennie, l99tk) or
the next most important, while minor reservoir rorks
range in age from Dex'onian to Triassic—Lower
Cretaceous.
The seals arc often intraformational. For example,
the
seal rc›ck for the chalk reservoirs is the same Upper
Cretaceous and basal Teroary chalk, but in an
imperme- able Lacies. The Paleogene fan and
turbidite sandstones are sealed by the surrounding
coeval shales. The Upper Jurassic sandstones are
sealed by the Upper Jurassic mudstones of the
Mandal and Farsund formations, while the Devonian
and Perrriian reservoirs of the Auk and Argyll area
are sealed by an unconformable layer of Upper
Cretaceous chalk. Given a single source rock of Late
Jurassic arid earliest Cretaceous aJ;e and subsequent
continuous sedimentation, the overburden rock was
deposited from the Early Cretaceous to Holocene.

Structural History
\Vhen the Central Craben formed is still debated
(Ziegler, 19d2, 1988; Kooi et al., 19b9). Generally, it
is thought that the crust thinned and domed in the
Middle Jurassic, from which a graben developed in
the Late Jurassic. ’l’he thermal sag phase controlled
sedimentation from the Early Cretaceous to the
present day (Figure 33.3). This simple case of rift
evolution was used by McKenzie (l978J to develop a
general oustnl-stretching model, later tested and
refined by Sclater and Christie t1980), food and
Barton (1983), arid Barton and \Vood (1984). A
palinspastically restored stiahgraphic section iS
presented by Thorne and Watts (1989). Subsequent
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
in the Carboniferous (Haszeldirte and Russell,
1987). However, all these mcdeis accept that the
majnr graben developed during the lurassic and
that the thickest Penn-Triassic lay to the east of
the younger Central Graben(Wgur33.3)
Structurally, the graben itself is simple, but
because of periodic salt movements during the
Early Triassic, Late Jurassic, Late Cretaceous,
and Tertiary, the graben fill is complex (Taylor,
1990). The oil fields in Upper Creta- ceous chalk
resein'oirs in the southern part of the Central
Graben have developed over salt swells and
pillows, with most fields in the entire Central Graben
being affwted to some degree by haJokinesis. The
unusual reservoir geometry in the Clyde and
Fulmar oil fields on the southwestern flank of the
graben demonstrates a subtle influence of
halokinesis (Stevens and Wallis, 1994), while the
Ula oil field trend on the no theastcrn flank
contains structural domes assciciated with salt
sw'ells and d iapirs (Spencer ct al., 4986b). The
structure of the Tertiary sandstone reservoir uf
the Cod gas field ale formed in response to
underlying salt piercement (PHeur, 1987b).
Based on reflection seismic profiles, a boundary
fault occurs along the southwestern margin t›f
the Central Ciraben which displaces sedimentary
rocks of Early Cretaceous age and older. Where
this boundary fault is displaced by a series of
offset (transfer) Cults, traps are found,
such as in the Auk and Are')
fields (Gibbs, 1989). The northeastern Central
Graben margin has less definition at the basal
Cretaceous because this frank of the graben is
formed by flexure plus a series of smaller dip-
sIip faults rather than a single major fault. To the
northwest, the fault-bounded intra- graberi horst
of the Forties—Montrose High has pmduced

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
structural traps, or dmpe closure, at the I•a1eogenc the sandstone in the Middle Triassic Josephine Member
str‹ati- Is reported as a good-quality reservoir (Fisher and
graphic level. Mudge, 99p).
Today, the geologic d eve lopment of the Central
Graben is incomplete. As pointed out by Nielsen ct
al. (1986), the average sedimentation mtce of 14
m/m.y. in the Paleocene and 23 m /m,y. in the Eocene-M
it›cene have accelerated to 100 m /m.y in the
PliocenwPleis- toccne and to l48m/ m.y. in the
Quaternary. The differ- ences in shape of the burial
history curves in the various gmbens farther north in
the Morth Sea are described by Comford and Brooks
(I 989) in terms of o southward migmtion of the locus
of deposibon with time. This ever increasing
thickness of overburden rock impacts oil and gas
gcncrahon by controlling the movcmcnt of the oil- prone
source rock into and through the oil and gas windows.
By modifying basin geometry, it changes migration paths
and trap configurations.

Stratigraphy
Figure 33.4 shows o generalized strahgraphic column
for the Central Graben worth the source rocks,
reservoir rorks, and field names (see also Table 53.1).
In terms of reservoi r rocks, t he Iie Eds of t he
Mandal—Ekofisk petroleu m syste m fall into lhrce ma
in groups. (1) Jurassic, Permian, and Devonian sandstones
and carbon- ates (pre- and synrift); (2) Upper
Cretaceous—Lower Paleocene chalk (postrift); and
(3} Upper Paleocene— Eocene sandstones (postrift).
Given the widespread source rock fpr this petroleum
system, the essential
elements and processes controlling the distribution of
oils in these three reservoirs arc presented in a temporal
way(Fi e]35)
Basement Rock
l*re-Devonian basement rocks are not penetrated
by wells in the Centra1 Graben. By ana logy with the
flanking rocks in the United Kingdom and southern
Morwegian onshore area, the basement rocks are pre-
Cambrian, Cambrian—Ordovician, and Silurian
sedimen- tary rinks that were metamorphosed during
the Cale- donian orogeny and intruded by lute
Caledonian granite.

Prerift Sedimentary Roche

The preriff stratigraphy of t he Central Graben
comprises mainly nonnunne Devonian siliciclastics
and Carboniferous sandstones and mudstones, together
with Lower Permian sandstones of the Rotliegendes
Group and Upper Permian evaporites tsaits,
anhydrites, etc.) of the Zechstein Group. The Auk
and Argyl fields on the southwestern flank of the rift
graben have reservoir rocks of Permian age with
ancilliary reserves of Devonian and Cretaceous age.
The Triassic sequence is do minantly red-bed
mudstones and siIt.stones, with snmc sandstones. The
Lower Triassic Skagerrak Formation contains minor
reservoir sandstones in the oil fieids within the Ula trend
(Home, 1987). In the area of the Jt›sephine oil field,
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
 tFiguie 33.6B). Evidence for the break in the Tethyan
—Borea l connection from Kimmeridgian to

Figure 3Y5. Events chaa ahouringthe timing of esaentigl

elements and processes wlthlnthe MandaF-Ekofiak(I)
petroleum system.

Except for the lolly preserved Gassum and

Fjerrit- slev formations, the Lower Jurassic appears
to be missing over most of the area either due to
nondeposition or to erosion. During the Middle
Jurassic, the Central Graben was at least one
provenance area for the deItaic Brent sandstone,
the major reservoir rork in the Viking Graben.
Within the Central Graben, it is represented locally
by the Bryne Formation, which may contain a
gas-prone source mrk.
5ynrift Sedimentary Rocks
When the up-donning collapsed and active
rifting began in the Upper Jurassic, the synrift
sedimentary rocks accumulated. The significance
oJ the synrift sediments is that they include the
only sIgnificant hydro- carbon source rock in the
Mandal—Ekofisk petroleum system (Figure
33.5). From the way they mill the exten- sional
paleotopogmphv, the Upper Jurassic sequence are
considered the beginning of the synrilt sequence
(Figure 33.3). \Vhere thin tcovering the fontwaUs
of the rotated graben blocks), the Upper Jurassic
appears to be a mndensed mudstone sequence, rather
than having been uplifted and erc›ded.
The rift formed a deep water basin that filled
with mudstone of the Upper Jurassic Haugesund,
Farsund, and Mandal Formations tHeather and
Kimmeridge Clay Formations of the United
Kingdom; Stow and Atkin, 1987). This mudstone
unit includes the only significant oil-prone source
rock tecogni*ed in the Central Graben (Comford,
4990). Source rc›ck deposition during the Late
Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous resulted from the
fortu- itous combination of high sedimentation
rates of clay- sized siliciclastic material, high
planktonic productivity in the near-surface water,
and development of an anoxic environment at the
sediment—water interface (Figures 33.6A and C).
The closing of the oxygenated seaway
connecting the Tethyan sea to the southeast and
the Boreal sea to the north resulted in the
development of anoxia during the Late Jurassic
within the North Sea grabens and flanking basins
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
 LACK OF ¥¥ATER Figure 33.6. (A) An east-west
ftANGE section and ‹a› map of a
WATER develaping graben system
STRA1FIED during the Lale Jurassic that
BODY,
ANOXtC AT
Jurasa I Cretaceous
DEPTH source rock in the North Saa.
(C) umM#eemway
connecgng the Boreal
ard Tethyan seas cauaed
anoxia

orqank matter accuzuukted

as wall as aedlrnentatlon
rate. tEl) Because of dosing
of the
'TO
TETfIY9

HALTMKnYlREt
4

VA LA N Q I N I
AN

Valanginian time is found in the development of Jurasssc Ula Formation (Spencer ct al., l98fib; Home
separate stratigraphies (Figure 33.6D). Cessation of 1987; Larter etal., 1990),
inter- on exchange, coupled with deepening of the
w'ater in the graben and flank basin areas, facilitated
development of stratified, stagnant water favoring
organic matter p rva0Om.
Sally derived Upper Jurassic ‹x›arse-trained silici-
classic sandstones of the Eldfisk Formation
(informally called the Fulmar sandstones in the
United Kingdom) constitute locally important
rmervoir rocks on the south- western flank of the
newly /ormed rift (Table 33.1). Examples are the
Fulmar tHelm et al., 1990; Stockbridge and Gray, 1991),
Durxan (Robson, 1991), and Clyde oil heads (Stevens and
Tallis, 19911. On the Norwegian rift margin, the Ula
trend contains shallow marine sand- stones of the Upper
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
 Postrift Sedimentary Rock
Subsidence due to cooling of the basement rock
along the North Sea graben axis during the Early
Cretaceous reconnected the Tethyan and Boreal water
masses, recre- ating an oxygenated seaway. During this
subsidence, organic-lean mudstone and siltstone with
some sandstone accumulated. Although reservoir
rock of this age is found north of the Central Graben,
no significant commercial accumulations have been
reported in the Vallull, Sola, or Rodby formations.
Minor oil production, however, is attributed to an
unusual Albian-Aptian carbonate breccia in the Auk
field (Trewin and Branwell, 1991).
In the Late Cretaceous-ear)y Paleocerle, rising sea
level, active phytoplankton (Gfobigerina) gmwth in
the surface water, and continued broad regional
subsidence

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
546 Cornford

favored deposition of chalk over the entire Central irzben. A wparate, lateral submarine fan contains the
firñlx'n area. These rt›rks ronstitiite the most important
upper reservoir rc›rks of the Garnet field pools, with the
rcwrvoir in the Ma ndal—Ekofi,sk trpleum systems South Can net pool in a proximal position and the
A fine-grained carbonate ocz.e accumulated on the Central and North Gannet pools in middle fan facies
sea
(Armstrong L4 al., 19b7).
fioor and, where unstable on the basin flanks, slumped
down from the northeast into the deep water axis of the The Hordaland Group was deposited during the Eocene
graben, where autochthonous, stump, debris flow, and —oligocene. This dominantly mudstone unit provides
turbidite facies are recognized (Kennedy, 1987; Taylor additional thickening to the overburden rock and acts as
and Lapie, 1987). These chalks are maJr reservoir rorks a seal tr› the Rogaland Group reservoirs, Oil shows fbut
(Table 33.1), particularly in the greater Ekoiisk area no signihcant accumulations) in the coarser units of the
where synsedirnentary slumping fostered the pTeserva- Hordaland Group attest to limited vertical migration
tion of primary porosity. Other Chalk reservoirs are the possibilities. The top of the Hordaland Group is marked
Tommeliten, Albuskjell, and West Ekofisk gas— by a regionally extensive Miocene unconfor- mity (Figures
conden- sate fields,and the Edda, Ekofisk, Eldfisk, Hod, 33.3 and 33.4) (Nielsen ct al.,1986). From the rate
Tor, and Valhai oil fields which all lie in the Miocene tc› the Holocene, the sedimentation rates of
southeastem part of the Central Graben (D’Heur, 4 986). mudstone have continued to increase (Mielsen ct aI.,
In addition, the Chalk Group is an important part of 198fi). These mudstones have significantly thickened
the overburden rock, as its deposition initiated generation the overburden rock, substantially broadening the area and
of petroleum from the underlying source rock in the hence the volume of mature source reek.
deepest parts of the Central Graben.
The Rogaland Grciup, deposited during the remainder
of the Paleocene and into the early Eocene, marks a Central
major change in sedimentation frorn the chalk.
Marine silts.!rlostir sandstone with some fine mud, often
in lhe form of submarine fans, was introduced
sporadically from the west and northwest into the
graben (kuvell, 1990). Thus, fields with a Rogaland
Group sandstone reservoir art lie in the northwestern part
of the Centml Graben (Figure 33.1). It has been
suggested that these fans are related to the updoming or
rejuvenation of the GreenJandWaledonian hinterland
prior to the opening of the Norih Atlantic (Thompson
and Cibson, 1991). The sandstones in these fans as the
second most important reserx'oir horizon of the Mandal—
Ekofisk petroleum system. In addition, the Rogaland
Group created addi- tional ox erburden rock, burying a
wider area of the Scandal Formation and hence
increasing the volume of mature scurce rock
A deep water submarine fan has long been accepted
as the dcpositional model for the Rogaland Group
sandstone reservoir rocks. Recognized fan facies include
marine deltaic, shelf-slope, and upper, midd le, and
lower fan assemblages (Stewart, 198a. An example oJ
this association is the Fnrties field where, paradoxically,
the thickest upper and middle fan deposits uncon-
formably overlie the Forties-Monhose High, presumably
a subdued structure during the Paleogene. Near the
bnse of the sermon, the Forties field reservoir sandstone is
a turbidite fan that grades to a debris flow toward the
top (Wilb and Peattie, 1990). This field developed
structuml closure from two processes: (1) rejuvenation
of the tectonically positive Forties—Montrose High,
which formed a drape over the previously deposited
fan, and
(2) differential compaction of the dominantly interfan
mud sequence around the thick pod of sand (Wills,
t991). The Montrose field represents a middle fan facies
of a stratigraphically older fan system (Crawford ct a1.,
1994), while the Cod field accumulated in a more distnl
fan facies lLfHeur, 1987b). These fields have reservoirs
in submarine fans that run dow o the axis of the
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
MANDAL—EKOFISKI!I PETROLEUM
SYSTEM
No previous workers have attempted to discuss
the North Sea in general or the Central Graben in
particular in terms of a petroleum system, although
Demaison and Huizinga (1991) in their general
review of petroleum system types estabhshed the
Central Graben as a verti- cally drained, high
impedance system. Damtoft et al. (1987) described
most elements of the petroleum system in the
Danish Central Truugh tTail End Graben) to the
south.
The earliest volumetric calculations were
published by Fuller (J975, J980) for the entire
North Sea petroleum province, and in particular.
for basins and graberts in the northern North Sea.
In a paper describing the Valhall oil field,
Leonan3 and Mums (1S87) defined a drainage area
and thickness for the Mandal Formation source
rock underlying the field. Using an average oJ wt.
V TOC, they estimated post—middle Miocene
generation of 3.5 billion m of oil, giving an overall
efficiency factor for the field of 8° for expulsion,
migration, and entrapment. The t ernporal
relationship of the elements of a nd proses in the
Mandal—Ekofisk system arc discussed later
(Figure 33.5).

Petroleum Source Rock

The only significant petroleum source wk
recognized in the Central Graben is the organic-
rich shale of the Mandal Formahon. In the
Central Gmben, the organic rich facies ranges in
age from late Volgian to Ryazanian, representing
the upper part of the Ki mmeridge Clay—Draupne
Formation farther north (Dore et al., 1985) and
being strahgraphimlly higher tlun the Kimmeridge
Clay of the U.K. onshore. A study of the Central
Graben by Hall and BjoTay (1991 ) suggests that
the Farsund and Haugesund formations are part of
the snme source rock interval (Fibre 33.4).

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
 33. Mendel-Ekofiskt!) Per:solemn System, Centred Graben, North See S4Z

A B

I•II •
620mgPy/g
TOC

-
820mgP
y/gTOC
!!I ! Yaluea Up la
iiI I t6ST0C
0 Z 1 6 6 TO 12 14 f5
%T0C (wt/w0

Figure 33.7. Otafacterlstce of the Mandal Formation ao e rock In the Cenoal Gmben.(A) Ranga ard average praeent-
day TDC vats{B) Rock•EvaI pyrolyele 6t yidd relaéve to TOC, showing the average HI (elope) and dead
carbon content (Intozsept on theTOC axb\ (C) Kerogen type of the Manzlal Formalon as defined on a modlfled van
Kreyclen diagram. (D) Etecraaae In HI whh depth during oil generation. (After Romford, 1090, whh addhfonal
data.)

The Mandal Formation was depasited in an arm of

consists moslly of bacterially degraded algal debris with
the northern Boreal sea at a time when a combination ol
minor amounts of terrestrial debris, some oxidized. The
Mgh surface water producfivity, anoxia at depth, and
oil-prone nature of the organic matter decreases rapidly
high sedimentation rate produced an excellent
outside the main Central Graben area, in particular
source rock (Figure 0.6), In thegaben aess, toward the northeastern Norwegian—Danish frank,
the ogaixcmater in this source rock is mainly type d where the more stratigraphically restricted Tan Formation
kercgen (Demaisen et al., 1984; Cooper and Barnard, is the only oil-prone unit (Ihomsen ct al-, 19831.
1P84; Cornford 1990) and
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
 Organic Matter Richness and Type inerti- nite (Curnfurd, 1990).
A histogram showing the range of total organic The average pyrolysis HI of the Mandal Formation
carbon (TOC) values reported in the literature on the source rock in the Central Graben is in the range of 'i0(L-
Mandal Formation of the Central Graben has an average 600 mgfg TOC n'hen immature (<2 kin) and falls below
TOC of 3.5 w’t. .° (Figure 33,7A). An average TOP 100 mg/g TOC by about 5 km (16,400 ft) burial
of M
¥Vt. to iS f8Qorted for a thick mudstone underlying the
Valhall field (Leonard and Mums, 1987), while
Caylcy (1987) reports an average TOC of 8 wt. 9
with a maximum of >l5 wt, ' for the Central Graben
as a whole. Damtoft et al. (1987) contoured average
TOC values in excess of 5 wt. R for the northern
sector of the adjacent Darñsh Tail End Graben. TOC
values reported for deep wells ca n be substantially
lower because expulsion of oil and gas reduces lhe
residual TOC level, thus a correction must be made
(as discussed later).
The local term “hot shale” is used to describe the
most organic rich units of the Upprr Jurassic
mudstones and is derived from the high natural
gamma ray wireline log response {oheo N excess of
2fD API units). In the Mandal Formation, this has been
show to originate from the high uranium, thnrium,
and potassium contents, with uranium up to 40 ppm
in the Central Graben IStow and Atkin, 1987).
Bjorlykke and lfinstad (1975) noted contri- butions to the
total natural gamma ray response of G) 9» from
uranium (5.27 ppm), 337» from t horium (10.46
ppm), and Who fTOm {Dtassium (IN ppm) in the
Mandal Formation shales of the Valhall field well
N2/11-1.
Discrete TOC values tan be generalized across the
entire source rr›ck section using wireline log responses
(Cornford, 499t)). A plot of natural gamma ray
response and mcasutcd TOP values from Central
Graben welk shows a lower gamma ray response per
unit TDC than in the Viking Graben (Comford,
1990). However, horn the present author’s
experience, the gamma (or spectral gamma) log
response correlates well with TOC but poorly with
kerogen type.
Kerogen rype can be determined from the S2 peak
from Rock-Eval pyrolysz and TOC, which are used to
calculate the hydrogen index (HI). Plotting the S2
peak with TOC produces a plot that has a slope of the
HI and an intercept on the TOC axis (Figus 33.7B).
While the slope of the lines represents the inertinite-
free HI, the intercept has been found to represent the
amount of dead carbon or inertinitc (plus residual
carbon in pest- mature samples) rather than the
sorptive capacity o1 the mineral matrix, as claimed
by Langford and Blanc- Valeron (1990). Here, the
Mandal Formation kerogens contain 1—3 wt dead
rarbon.
The modified van Krevelen diagram indicates that
most Mandal Formation samples are type II kerogen,
with some type I (Figure 33,7C). This designation is
confirmed by organic petrography of the Mandal
Formation and other Upper Jurassic North Sea kerogens,
where abundant amorphous liptinite occurs together
with minor particulate algal debris, vitrinite, and
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
when ex ha usfed (Ft gure 33.7 G). Maps ha ve using reflection seismic data (Figure 33.3) and Platte
been produced of original source rock richness Itiver’s BasinMod modeling software. Such modeling
based on organic trography and kerobcn type requires stratigraphic, litho-
(e.g„ Demaison ct ol., 1984; Cc c›per and Barnard,
1984), but correction for the cffccts of maturation
on these parameters is not a lwnys mv d e. In
some field s tudies, ker‹sgens are described as
type III when they are probably late mature rype
II.
A study of the Mnndal Formation by Bailey et
a1. (t990) at 3700-3800 m depth in a single well
in the Ekofisk area shows average pyrolysate
values of about 20 kg /t, with values as high as 70
kg/t. Using the previous information, an average
immature HI of 550 mg/g TOC and an average
TOC value of 5.5 Wt. to give an average potential
yield of 30.25 kg /t. To a first approximation, this
pyrolysate yield can be taken to represent the
gross hydrocarbon yield of the Mandal Formation
source r‹xk.

Source Rock Thickness

The thickness of the source rock interval is
difficult to assess because the sediment filled in
the irregular topog- raphy produced by the pull-
apart and the movement of the underlying
evaporites (Figure 33.g). The rapid changes in
source rock thickn.wm arr test ohserve6 on
seismic profiles because wells are drilled mainly
on structural highs and tend to penetrate the
thinner sequences (Figure 33.3). The isopach map
of Spencer et al. (1986b) combines the Upper and
Middle Jurassic, but the majority of the section is
source rock (Figure 33.5). For example, Well
N2/14 -1 encountered abouf 1200 m (3940 ft) of
organic-rich shale (average wt. to TOC) at the
south end of the graben axis (Leonard and Mums,
198a. Also, at the north end of the graben axis tu
the east of the Gannet field, the source rork
reaches at least 922 m (3025 ft) in thickness. The
isopach map of the Kimmeridge Clay and the
Heather Formation of Cay1ey (1987) shows a
major thickening underlying the Joanne field in the
U.K. sector. The southern extension of this sotuce is
mapped as the Farsund Formation in the Danish
Tail End Graben by Damtoft et aL (lSS7l, where
thicknesses up to 14J9 m (4656 ft) have been
penetrated with the drill bit still in the formation.

Maturation and Generation

The thermal maturity at the top of the Mandal
Formation source rork is best mapped using the
near basal Cretaceous seismic reflector and well
control. Detailed thermal maturity reaps in the
Cenhal Graben have been made by Barnard and
Ccoper (1981), Spencer et aL (1986b), Cayley
(1957), and Biihrig (1989). A synthesis of this
information was used to construct the thermal
maturity map in Figure 33,9). This map is based
on relating oil and gas generation levels to
vitrinite reflectance values (Table 33.2) using peak
on generation of 0.6-0.9% @. Extrapolation of
maturity levels from well locations arc estimated
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
 3ñ. Munilol-Fkofiskl!} f’rtrofruin i1/stem, Centriil Arnhem, North !3ea 549

Figure 33.8. Isopach map of the

Mandal Formation source rock in
the Central Graben. The isopach
contours are based on seismic
reflectors near ftse Dasal
Cretaceous and thg MiGdle Jurassic
unconformity. Thickness ol this
interval where penetrated by a well
is aften anomaIous[y thin due to
haloklnetlc hlgha (Modified from
Spencer etal., 1986a; Cayley, 1987;
and individual wail penatrationa.)
el

TA
ML

logic, geothermal, and thermal maturity information.

Stratigraphy and lithology are combined to
generate a burial history diagram (Figum 33.10A).
Before maturity can be calculated. the burial history plot
must have a thermal grid superimposed (Figure
33.10A).

Present•Day Heat Flow

For the Central Craben, the present-day geothermal
gradient of 4OU/km is known from drill-stem tests
and reservoir temperature measurements and represents
a heat flow of S3 md/m* (Figure 33.108; Table 33.)).
This value is consistent with a generalized set of matrix
thermal conductivities attributed to the various litholo-
gies using an exponential compaction algorithm (Sclater
and Christie, 4980).
The present-day geothermal gradient does s•ary
within the Central Graben area (Cornford, 1S90), with
values ranging from 35 ' to 45‘C/km. Reworking old
data, Thorne and Watts 1989) attributed values of 1.2
—1.4 HFU (heat flow units, pcal/cm* sec, equal to
50-59 mW/m*) to the Central Graben area. Leadholm
AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists
al. (1985) contoured heat flow in the northern part of
the Centml Graben at greater than 1.6 HFU(67
mW/m2) and geothermal gradients of 35’—40’C/ km.
These values imply a very low mean thermal
nnductivity of 1.67—1.91 W/m U for the overall
sediment column since heat flow (m\V/m*) equals
themial conductivity (W/m ’C) times the geothermal
gradient (”C/krri).
Spencer et a1. (1986b) report heat flows of 40-45
mW/m2 on the northeastern flank, increasing to 50
mW/m2 in the Centra l Graben, while much higher
values (62—tO mW/m*) have been reported for the
Sole Pit Trough gas area south of SSN latitude
(Oxburgh and Andrews-Speed, 1981). To the south
in the Tail End Graben, low values of 1.I 0 H FU (46
mW /m ) are modeled for the Zulu-3 well for the
present day, with lower values in the past fThomsen
ct al.,1990). Since it is temperature and hence
gradient that is measured, the discrepancies
between the regional heat flow values appear to
relate to the wide range of bulk thermal conductivities
used for individual !ithologies or for the whole
sedimentary column. On the basis of oxygen isotopes,
sea floor temperatures in the Noah Sea have

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
Ss0 Com/O f¥f

Figure 33.9. Thermal maturity map

near basalCretaceous (t0p source
rock) in the Central Graben. Oil gene•
ahon (oil window) oocurs @Meen 0.7
and 1.1°4 R„ and gas generation (gas
window) above 1.1% R . These
boundaries are broadly in agreement
with those reported by Larter et al.
(1990), as detailed in Table 33.2.
(Modified from Thomas et af., 1985a;
Spencer st al., 1986a; Cayley, 1987;

DAkiS
H

FgRTlJ
APPROACH curre
ES
az

MID NORTN SEA TAIL END

HIGH

Table 33.2. Levels of Thermal Maturñy in Terms Table 33.3. Surface Temperature and Moat Flow
af Vitrinite Reflectance (R ) and Depth for the Values U6ed To Make the Model In Figure 33.10
Nonvegian
Ula Area• Age Sea Heat
Floor flow
Levels of Thermal Rm Depth {Ma) (°C) (mW/ Comments
mg
Maturity (°6) (m) Pres 6 45
ent
immature (oil and gas) 0.55 3350 15 18 45 Warm Oligo—Mio
climate
Early mature(oil) 0.60 3550 65 15 45
Peak oil generation 0.80 4000 100 12 4S
Late mature (oil) 0.90 4200 120 15 60 Thermal oecay
Early(wet) gas 1.10 4500 144 10 75 Rifting. deaper water
Main(dry) gas 1.30 ? 163 20 90 Thermal updoming
Hayley’s(1987} stLdy of It"e M.K. CentmJ gra x•n quoles level off rre1arnor-
phism values • t ou refarerce to deph. From Laner et at. (19 D).

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
 J3. Iviandal-Ekofisk{!) Petroleum Sysfem, Central Graben, North Sea WI

Lwr fizulang ¥bo0tse

Tdaa

TEMPERATURE) MATURIT'/ f'¥VR}

B

Flgure 39.10. Tlzuwral maturity modeling in th Central GraLan along section A••A' (eee Flgure 3 3 fbr k›cañon\ (A)
Bwlat hletory diagram sharing isotfierms and kinetic generation windows forlhe Mandal Formation(BaeinM tB)
Raservdr temperatures aqainat depth wlth a fuet0t IIne af 53 mWAr heal flow.(C) Thermal rruturlty callbratlon of
nzeaa\xsd and modeled vlo1nite refleeta (D)
Generation (w oi and gas per m+ of aouroe rock) versus ams for the Mardal Fonnatlon sour‹s rock at tlds k›cz
Ion. The time of peak generation (-@ la) at the location of the burial history chart defines the critical moment for
this petroleum ayetem.

changed considerably from the Neogene (18 ”C) to used for the Late Cretaceous and most of the Tertiary to
subzero temperatures in the quaternary tlce Ages),
and finally to bV for the present-day interglacial (Table
33.3) (Comtord, 19Rl).

Paleoheat Flow
The paleogeothermal gradient and heat flow are more
problematic to establish than prment-day heat flow, but
a decreasing heat flow with time from the Late Jurassic
crusta 1 thinning and rift event is thought to have
occurred. As concluded later, a lower heat flow value is

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists
obtain a calibration with measured thermal maturity
values. The model allows the high heat flow of the
Middle Jurassic to dissipate over 60 m.y. (Table
33.3). Due to rapid and accelerating burial, the
present-day thermal nuturity oJ the wurce rfck is
insensitive to pre- Tertiary heat flow and tectonic
events. The role of salt (With a high thermal
conductivity) in perturbing a simple heat flow aiodel
is poorly understood, although thermal anomalies
have been noted adjacent to salt diapim
Calibration with measured thermal maturity
parame- ters is obtained by taking vitrinite
reflectance values from the trends of a number of wells
and relating them by depth to the section modeled
with BasinSlod (Figure

AAPG Memoir 60 - Copyright © 2009 The American Association of Petroleum

Geologists