Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of North Yorkshire and Humberside

HYDROCARBON PROSPECTIVITY OF NORTH YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

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1 Copyright DTI 2004

Report No. 85/2

Hydrocarbon prospectivity of North Yorkshire and Humberside

G.A. Kirby, P.W. Swallow, D.W. Holliday, S. Holloway, I.E. Penn and K Smith. BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Natural Environment Research Council

Hydrocarbons (Onshore) Research Programme (Deep Geology Research Group)

Report Hydrocarbon prospectivity of North 85/2 Yorkshire and Humberside

G. A. Kirby

P. W. Swallow

D. W. Holliday

S. Holloway

I. E. Penn

K. Smith

This work was supported by the Petroleum Engineering Division of the Department of Energy

SUMMARY 1

1 . INTRODUCTION 2

1.1 GENERAL 1.2 HISTORY OF HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION

1.3 GEOLOGY

1.3a SUBSURFACE DATA 1.3b OUTLINE STRATIGRAPHY AND

GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE 6

1.4 SEISMIC INTERPRETATION 14

2 . STRATIGRAPHY 19

2.1 CARBONIFEROUS 20

2.la INTRODUCTION 28 2 .lb DINANTIAN 25 2. lc NAMURIAN 27 2.ld WESTPHALIAN 29 PAGE

2.2 PERMIAN 31

2.2a INTRODUCTION 31 2.2b LOWER PERMIAN 33 2.2~ UPPER PERMIAN 35

2.3 TRIASSIC 48

2.3a INTRODUCTION 48

2.3b THE ESKDALE GROUP 51

2.3~ THE SHERWOOD SANDSTONE GROUP 52 2.3d THE MERCIA MUDSTONE GROUP 54 2.3e THE PENARTH GROUP 57

2.4 JURASSIC 58

2.4a INTRODUCTION 58 2.4b LOWER JURASSIC (LIAS GROUP) 60

2.4~ MIDDLE JURASSIC: DOGGER AND RAVENSCAR GROUP 62

2.4d UPPER JURASSIC 65

2.5 CRETACEOUS 67 PAGE

3. RESERVOIR ROCKS 69

3.1 BASEMENT ROCKS 69

3.2 DINANTIAN ROCKS 70

3.3 SILESIAN ROCKS 72

3.4 PERMIAN ROCKS (ROTLIEGENDES) 74

3.5 PERMIAN ROCKS (ZECHSTEIN) 75

3.6 TRIASSIC ROCKS 78 3.7 JURASSIC ROCKS 79 3 .8 CONCLUSIONS 81

4. STRUCTURE 83

4.1 OUTLINE OF CARBONIFEROUS STRUCTURE 83 4.2 CARBONIFEROUS STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT 88 4.3 OUTLINE OF PERMIAN AND MESOZOIC STRUCTURE 98 4.4 PERMIAN AND MESOZOIC STRUCTURAL

DEVELOPMENT 101 4.5 TRAPS 112

4.6 LOCATION AND DEFINITION OF CLOSURES 119

5. SOURCE-ROCK POTENTIAL AND MATURITY 121 PAGE

5.1 INTRODUCTION 121 5.2 DINANTIAN ROCKS 122

5.2a GENERAL 122 5 .2b MATURITY 122

5.3 NAMURIAN ROCKS 123

5.3a GENERAL 123 5 .3b MATURITY 124

5.4 WESTPHALIAN ROCKS 126

5.4a GENERAL 126 5 .4b MATURITY 127

5.5 LIASSIC ROCKS 130

5.5a GENERAL 130 5 .5b MATURITY 130

5.6 SOURCE ROCK SUMMARY 132

5.7 HYDROCARBON MIGRATION PATHS 136

5.7a CARBONIFEROUS 136 5.7b PERMIAN AND MESOZOIC 138 PAGE 6. PROSPECTIVITY SUMMARY 141

7 REFERENCES 146

APPENDIX: LIST OF INTERPRETED SEISMIC LINES LIST OF FIGURES

PAGE

Fig. 1.1 Location map of study region and adjacent 3 areas.

1.2 Borehole location map 7 1.3 Simplified geological map showing Mesozoic a structural features 1.4 Permian and Mesozoic stratigraphic nomenclature 11

Major Carboniferous paleogeographical 21 features of Northern England Simplified Carboniferous stratigraphic table 24 2.3 Basal Permian Sands: Isopachs 34 2.4 Lower Magnesian limestone: Isopachs and Facies 38 2.5 Kirkham Abbey Formation: Isopachs and Facies 41 2.6 Upper Magnesian limestone: Isopachs and Facies 44 2.7 Thickness in metres of the Sherwood Sandstone 53 Group plus Saliferous Marls 2.8 Thickness in metres of the Mercia Mudstone 5s Group plus Penarth Group

Fig. 3.1 Summary of areas of best reservoir potential 82 PAGE

Fig. 4.1 Major Carboniferous paleogeographical and 85 structural features of Northern England 4.2 Simplified geological cross-sections 91 illustrating the Carboniferous structure of the North Yorkshire area 4.3 Dinantian structural evolution 95 4.4 Standard burial curves 103 4.5 Maximum depth of burial: Top Lias 104 4.6 Maximum depth of burial: Base Permian 105 4.7 Uplift 4.8 Estimates of Chalk thickness 108 4.9 Late Creteceous Uplift (Cleveland Basin 113 Inversion) 4.10 Post Eocene Uplift 114 4.11 N-S Cross sections illustrating Permian and 115 Mesozoic structural development 4.12 Traps 116 4.13 Schematic Geological cross-section with 117 seismic line demonstrating the attenuated sequences across the Lockton High

Fig. 5.1 Carboniferous Burial curves: 125 5.2 Regional maximum vitrinite reflectance values 129 converted from calorific value 5.3 Lower Lias isoreflectance maps 131 5.4 Burial curves: Base Permian 134 -PAGE 5.5 Base Permian TTI values: present day 135 5.6 Hydrocarbon producing potential of Silesian 137 strata

5.7 Permian and Mesozoic Migration paths 139

LIST OF TABLES

1. Permian Lithostratigraphic nomenclature 32 2. Triassic Lithostratigraphic nomenclature 49

3. Jurassic and Cretaceous Lithostratigraphic 59 nomenclature