Z020

Mapping of Gas Migration into, and out of, the

Tyra Field in the Danish North Sea
G.C. Fehmers* (Maersk Oil / Shell), B. Printz (Maersk Oil) & G. Febriany
(Maersk Oil)

SUMMARY
The paper presents various pieces of evidence telling a story of gas migrating into – and out of – the Tyra
gas field in the Danish North Sea. Seismic observations of gas charge include a (1) gas chimney from the
Jurassic into the Cretaceous chalk reservoir along major faults, (2) low stacking velocities in the lower
chalk, coincident with a (3) push-down of the base chalk reflector, and (4) low reflectivity spots in the base
chalk reflector, thought to be gas entry points.
Above the reservoir, low seismic velocities in marine shales are coincident with top reservoir relief, and
these low velocities are supported by well data. Low seismic velocities coincide with higher gas readings
in the mud logs. In the same area, both well data and bright seismic amplitudes indicate the presence of
Eocene and Oligocene limestones in an otherwise shaly marine sequence. Stable isotope analysis of
cuttings show very depleted 13C levels of these limestones, suggesting a carbonate partially sourced by
thermogenic methane. In this scenario, methane vents would support colonies above the leaking reservoir.
Only later would the reservoir be effectively sealed.

74th EAGE Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2012

Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 June 2012
Introduction

Tyra is a gas field located at the tail end of the Central Graben in the Danish sector of the North Sea, it
was discovered in 1968 and came on stream in 1984 (Nykjaer 1994). The reservoir is around 100 m
thick and consists of chalk of the Ekofisk and Tor formations, of Danian (early Palaeocene), and
Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous) age, respectively. It is a low relief four way dip closure measuring
around 7 km by 3.5 km, at a depth of 2 km (2 s TWT, Figure 1). The field is overlain by a sequence of
marine shales with some sand, silt and limestone. From 1200 m downwards these shales are
overpressured and characterised by dense polygonal faulting: the Hordaland group from mid Miocene
to early Eocene.
The total late Cretaceous sequence has a thickness of ~400 m, and is basically all chalk. The early
Cretaceous is ~500 m thick and contains a secondary oil reservoir, the marly chalk of the Tuxen
formation, which is about 20 m thick. The deepest well on Tyra (E-1X, TD at 4046 m TVDSS) found
only marine shales in the 1119 m Jurassic section. Seismic indicates that the Jurassic below Tyra is
kilometres thick.

Figure 1 Two south-to-north seismic sections with evidence of gas charge. Right hand section focuses
on the Cretaceous interval and is situated 375 m to east of the section on the left. Vertical scale in s
TWT. Gas presence is suggested by a chimney (2.2-5s), connected to large scale faulting at base
Callovian level (5s), a push-down of the base chalk reflector (2.3 s, yellow interpretation in figure on
right), and low amplitudes at discrete entry points in base chalk reflector (at tip of blue stick in figure
on right).

74th EAGE Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2012

Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 June 2012
Evidence of charge

As shown in Figure 1, there is a column below Tyra where the seismic reflectors are dimmer and less
continuous than in the surroundings. These are features consistent with what is colloquially known as
a gas chimney. This chimney is visible from ~2.2 s (in the Cretaceous chalk below the reservoir)
down to ~5 s in the middle Jurassic. At this depth, the chimney seems to connect to a major fault at
base Callovian level (the bright reflectors near base Callovian are associated with coals, as revealed
by other wells in the Danish sector). Higher up, at the base Cretaceous Unconformity (~2.6 s), the
chimney seems bounded to the north by a north dipping fault. The chimney is much narrower than the
extent of reservoir gas, ruling out the reservoir gas itself as the cause of the shadow.

Where the chimney intersects the base chalk reflector (~2.3 s), the latter appears to form a depression,
which in section resembles a channel (Figure 1, right). The chalk appears 10-15 % thicker as a
consequence. This feature was mapped on seismic sections (polygon ‘A’, Figure 2), and three other
similar, albeit more subtle, depressions were mapped too. We argue that these depressions are push-
downs caused by low velocities in the layer above. The evidence comes from an analysis of
handpicked seismic stacking velocities. The stacking velocities were Dix converted to interval
velocities. Figure 2 (left) shows an analysis of these velocities in the lower half of the chalk, i.e.
directly overlaying the depressions. It appears that polygon ‘A’ fits precisely onto a velocity anomaly,
where velocities are ~8% lower than in the surroundings. This is evidence that these depressions are
not geological but seismic artefact (‘push-down’). A horizontal Tuxen development well drilled
through one of these areas and confirms that it is indeed artefact, but also shows that the anomalous
seismic velocities are too high still.

Finally, spots of vanishing amplitude at the base chalk reflector (Figure 1), in the direct vicinity of the
push-down areas, could be interpreted as discrete gas entry points.

Figure 2 Left: A map from seismic stacking velocities in the lower chalk interval. The stacking
velocities are converted to interval velocities, and the map shows the percentual deviation from the
mean velocity. The black polygons indicate the push-down areas as interpreted on seismic sections.
Right: Seismic velocities in the overpressured shales above Tyra. Well patterns indicate the location
of the Tyra West and East platforms. Notice low velocities in the overpressured shales around the
Tyra East platform and at the Roar field (well H-1X) in the northwest.

74th EAGE Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2012

Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 June 2012
Evidence of discharge

Straight above polygon ‘A’ (and below the Tyra East platform), the seismic velocities in the
overpressured shales are low (Figure 2, right). These low velocities are confirmed by well data, and
once more it appears that the anomalous velocities are too high still. This anomaly could again be
caused by the presence of gas. To test this idea we compared the overburden gas readings from Tyra
East wells (going though the anomaly) against those from the Tyra West wells (missing the anomaly).
And indeed, high gas readings are more frequent in Tyra East than in Tyra West wells.

A cross-section (Figure 3) shows an area of higher seismic amplitudes at ~1.65 s TWT in the
overpressured shales, directly above a positive relief in the top chalk reflector. This anomaly has been
penetrated by wells and they were identified as limestones. The blue polygon (Figure 2, right) shows
their outline as mapped on seismic. These limestones are located above polygon A and extend to the
east and southeast. Similar high amplitudes have been seen over Roar, where well H-1X drilled
through limestone stringers too (not shown). Over Roar, the stringers are located somewhat deeper at
1.85 s.

Unfortunately, no cores were taken in the section of high seismic amplitudes, hence analysis is
performed on drill cuttings. Data were analysed by biostratigraphy, petrography and by stable
isotopes. The biostratigraphy indicates that the limestone cuttings in H-1X (Roar) are of Middle
Eocene age while those below Tyra East are of Oligocene age. The petrography was inconclusive as
far as the origin of the carbonate cement goes, in part because the rock pieces are small (the larger
fragments are 1-3 mm).

Figure 3 West to east seismic section showing the chalk and the overlying overpressured shales. The
latter are bounded by the blue and yellow interpreted horizons at 1.2 and 1.9 s respectively. Halfway
the overpressured shales (just above the red horizon), a high amplitude anomaly is apparent,
penetrated by a few Tyra East wells (wells in green). The graph on the right shows results of stable
isotope analysis of limestone cuttings from the anomaly as well as from control samples.

74th EAGE Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2012

Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 June 2012
Various samples have been analysed for δ13C and δ18O. Limestone grains have been picked from the
high seismic amplitude intervals in five Tyra East wells, as well as the Roar H-1X well. For
comparison, limestone grains have been picked from the same depth interval in three wells that do not
penetrate the high amplitude interval (Tyra West), although these were hard to find among the pieces
of mudrock. Samples from the Cretaceous chalk from two other wells have also been analysed, as
well as Tyra reservoir gas. The results are summarised in the graph in Figure 3.

As expected, the chalk samples (δ13C  2 ‰ PDB) have δ13C/δ12C ratios close to 0 (typical of average
marine carbonates), while the reservoir gas (δ13C = -46 ‰ PDB) shows a strong depletion of 13C,
typical of thermogenic methane (Hudson 1977). The samples from H-1X are very depleted in δ13C
(average -32 ‰ PDB), as are the Tyra East samples (average -24 ‰ PDB). Carbonate deposits with
very negative δ13C are consistent with carbonate from life forms feeding on reservoir gas. The
depletion sets the Tyra East and H-1X samples apart from the Tyra West control samples (average -11
‰ δ13C PDB).

The seismic reveals two other features that might be associated with fluid escape: pockmarks at top
chalk and enigmatic polygonal structures in the Tor (Sandrin et al. 2012).

Discussion and conclusions

The interpretation that presents itself is that gas from the middle Jurassic or deeper moved upwards
along a fault system through the Jurassic and lower Cretaceous. The gas then filtered through the
lower half of the upper Cretaceous chalk, to arrive in the present reservoir. Part of this gas escaped.
This gas migration was active as early as the Middle Eocene – Oligocene. In the Miocene at the latest
the seal must have closed, as Tyra holds a 100 m gas column and no traces of gas can be seen above
the mid Miocene. Some of the gas is still trapped along the migration path, and this leads to the
phenomena we see today. It is hard to estimate the current gas saturations along the migration path,
anything above 5% would probably explain the observations.

This abstract leaves insufficient space to put these observations in the context of the literature on gas
seeps, chimneys, and hydrocarbon migration into and through chalk. Neither can we elaborate on
exploration and basin modelling in the Danish tail end graben. Suffice to say that identification of a
gas chimney below a reservoir is a strong indicator of charge, just as the more conventional chimney
above the reservoir.

Ackowledgements

The authors thank Maersk Oil and DUC partners (Shell, A.P. Møller-Mærsk, and Chevron) for
permission to publish this paper. Special thanks to Christoph Korte (University of Copenhagen) for
the stable isotope analysis and Madeleine Raven (Maersk Oil) for her help interpreting the results.

References

Hudson JD [1977] Stable isotopes and limestone lithification, Journal of the Geological Society, 133,
637-660

Nykjaer O [1994] Development of a thin oil rim with horizontal wells in a low relief chalk gas field,
Tyra field, Danish North Sea, SPE paper 28834

Sandrin, A., Fehmers, G., Printz, B., Van Buchem, F., Uldall, A. and Hoffmann, U. [2012] Polygonal
faulting in chalk: an example at the Tyra field, Danish North Sea. Submitted to 74th EAGE Conference
& Exhibition.

74th EAGE Conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2012

Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 June 2012