Petroleum Geology of NW Europe: 50 Years of Learning – Proceedings of the 8th Petroleum Geology Conference Petroleum Geology of NW Europe: 50 Years of Learning – Proceedings of the 8th Petroleum Geology Conference Held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, 28–30 September 2015 Edited by M. Bowman University of Manchester, UK and B. Levell University of Oxford, UK with Matthew Allen, Dana Petroleum Limited, Aberdeen, UK Boris Kostic, Badley Ashton, UK Jen Brzozowska OBE, Oil and Gas Authority, Steve Jenkins, Savannah Petroleum, London, UK Terrain Energy and OGIA, London, UK Eva Halland, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Norway Andy Leonard, Consultant, Aberdeen, UK Mike Howe, BGS, Keyworth, UK Cliff Lovelock, Shell UK Exploration Eugene Iwaniw, Robertson, CGG Services (UK) Ltd, UK & Production Ltd, Aberdeen, UK Mike Keaveny, PGS Exploration Ltd, Weybridge, UK Walter Rietveld, BP Exploration Ltd, Sunbury, UK 2018 Published by The Geological Society London THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY The Geological Society of London (GSL) was founded in 1807. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe. It was incorporated under Royal Charter in 1825 and is Registered Charity 210161. 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ISBN 978-1-78620-277-2 Distributors For details of international agents and distributors see: www.geolsoc.org.uk/agentsdistributors Typeset by Nova Techset Private Limited, Bengaluru & Chennai, India Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY, UK The Technical and Editorial Committee Mike Bowman Chair of the Petroleum Engineering Program, Texas A&M University at Eugene Iwaniw Qatar, Hon Chair in Petroleum Technical Director of Robertson, Geoscience, University of CGG Services (UK) Ltd, UK Manchester, UK Technical Committee and Conference Convener, Session Chair Session Chair: New Plays and Editor-in-Chief Bruce Levell Mike Keaveny Visiting Professor, Dept of Earth PGS Exploration Ltd, Weybridge UK Sciences, University of Oxford Technical Committee, Conference Convener, Session Chair and Editor: Posters Session Chair and Editor-in-Chief Matthew Allen Boris Kostic Dana Petroleum Limited, Europe/Africa Regional Manager, Aberdeen, UK Badley Ashton, UK Technical Committee, Session Chair Technical Committee, and Editor: Key Geoscience Core workshop co-ordinator Challenges Steve Jenkins Savannah Petroleum, Terrain Energy Jen Brzozowska OBE and OGIA, London, UK Oil and Gas Authority, London, UK Technical Committee, Technical Committee, Session Chair and Editor: Session Chair and Editor: Onshore Atlantic Margin and Beyond Exploration and Development Eva Halland Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Andy Leonard Norway Consultant, Aberdeen, UK Technical Committee, Session Chair Technical Committee, and Editor: Infrastructure-led Session Chair and Editor: Technology Opportunities Mike Howe National Geological Repository, BGS, Robert Leppard Keyworth, UK Leppard Sedimentology, Fleet, UK Technical Committee, Technical Committee, Core workshop co-ordinator Core workshop co-ordinator THE TECHNICAL AND EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Cliff Lovelock Walter Rietveld Shell UK Exploration & Production BP Exploration Ltd, E.H. Seismic Ltd, Aberdeen, UK Processing Manager, Sunbury, UK Technical Committee, Technical Committee, Session Chair and Session Chair and Editor: Imaging Editor: Late Life Fields Challenges in Mature Fields The Petroleum Geology Conferences Management Grateful thanks are extended to the following companies Board Members: 2013–17 and individuals for their generous sponsorship of the conference: John Austin (Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Badley Ashton Britain), Guy Elliott (Petroleum Exploration Society of Baker Hughes Great Britain), Rajan Gupta (Energy Institute), Marta BG Group Kozlowska (Energy Institute), Adam Law (Geological BP Society of London), Bruce Levell/Mike Bowman Cairn Energy (Technical Committee), Edmund Nickless (Geological Centrica Society of London) Chevron Dana Petroleum For help with the core workshop: DONG Energy ERC Equipoise British Geological Survey (BGS) ExxonMobil GDF Suez Lundin Maersk Oil Halliburton NERC Nexen Oil & Gas Independents’ Association PGS Robin Roberts (in memoriam of David G. Roberts) Royal Dutch Shell RPS Energy Schlumberger Statoil Wintershall Preface The 8th Petroleum Geology Conference (PGC VIII) was the latest in a prestigious series dating back to 1974. The conference marked a major milestone in the region’s petroleum geology, being held 50 years after the first North Sea hydrocarbon discovery in the West Sole gas field of the Southern North Sea. Over 41 years, this conference series and the associated proceedings volumes (the ‘Barbican’ series), have provided an important reference to NW Europe exploration and production, from its early life as an emerging world class petroleum province, through to its current mature stage. The conference series has been distinguished by its high scientific quality; PGC VIII is no exception. We are con- fident that this proceedings volume and its predecessors will continue to be a standard reference for successive generations of petroleum geo- scientists, academics and subsurface professionals both working in the region and learning from the experience accumulated here. The eighth conference signaled a return to the roots of the event, focusing on NW Europe. The conference theme was ‘50 years of learning – a platform for present value and future success’. The conference began with a core workshop: a suite of cores from classic North Sea and UK onshore reservoirs on display together with some from recent discoveries and developments. The core workshop material is not included in these proceedings. Readers who wish to access the core material that was on display can do so using the summary listing in the introductory overview paper by Levell & Bowman (2017, https://doi.org/10.1144/PGC8.41) and the following link: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/collections/bore.html. The conference sessions and volume proceedings covered a range of areas from New Plays, Key Fields and Fairways, and Key Geoscience Challenges to Mature Fields and Technology. A selection of papers based on posters on display at the conference has also been included in this volume. The conference also offered the opportunity to celebrate the life and contributions of two of Europe’s most prestigious petroleum geologists who had passed away since the last conference, David G. Roberts and Peter Zeigler. To acknowledge the impact of these two giants of our industry, BP and Shell, respectively, agreed to fund awards for the best papers. The papers selected were ‘Intrusive and extrusive sequences and their interactions with hydrocarbon