Petroleum resources of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin and environs, Grand Banks, Newfoundland

Abstract

A series of Mesozoic sedimentary basins extends across the broad continental shelf of Newfoundland. So far it has been demonstrated that only the Jeanne d'Arc Basin and environs contain potentially commercial quantities of oil and gas. The development in this area of hydrocarbon source rocks, reservoir rocks, source rock maturity, and hydrocarbon migration and trapping mechanisms was controlled by the cyclic development of extensional forces related to the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. Geophysical exploration of the Grand Banks region began in the early 1950s. The first industry seismic program for the Jeanne d'Arc Basin was undertaken by Amoco in 1965. Drilling in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin and environs began in 1971 and, after a hiatus from 1975 to 1978, drilling activity peaked in 1984. A total of 67 wells have been drilled, and over 150 000 km of seismic data have been recorded in the study area to the end of 1989. In Part I of the report, 15 hydrocarbon exploration plays are defined by area and type of trap and by the lithostratigraphic horizon providing the reservoir facies. In Part II, seismic and well data for each play are used as input data in statistical estimations of the total and remaining hydrocarbon potential of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin and environs.

Egret-Hibernia(!), a significant petroleum system, northern Grand Banks area, offshore eastern Canada

“…Around 1990, the Geological Survey of Canada evaluated 15 plays in 5 groups as part of a resource assessment of the Jeanne d'Arc petroleum province, which includes the Jeanne d'Arc Basin and the Outer Ridge complex (Sinclair et al, 1992). At the time, 2.21 billion BOE had already been discovered (Table 2).…”

“…This well produced 20,000 bbl/day of 30.1-33.5j API oil from Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sandstone. By 1989, 37 more wildcat wells had been drilled, resulting in 10 oil and 5 gas-condensate discoveries (Table 2) (Sinclair et al, 1992).…”

“…For this reason, the authors compiled discovery information from the literature and the Worldwide Web (Sinclair et al, 1992;Taylor et al, 1992;CNOPB, 2004).…”

“…(B) Location of the oil and gas discoveries. Information compiled from Bell and Campbell (1990), Grant and McAlpine (1990), Sinclair et al (1992), Oil & Gas Journal (2000, and CNOPB (2004). Tr = Triassic; LK = Lower Cretaceous.…”

Basin modeling meets rift analysis – A numerical modeling study from the Jeanne d'Arc basin, offshore Newfoundland, Canada

“…The initial thickness of the crust, as calculated, varies between 38 and 44 km (Table 3). Based on various publications, the Triassic syn-rift phase is set from 230 to 220 Ma (Enachescu, 1992;Hubbard, 1988;Jansa and Wade, 1975;McAlpine, 1990;Sinclair et al, 1992;Welsink et al, 1989).…”