Review of Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group reservoirs of Ireland and Great Britain and their future role in geoenergy applications

Abstract

As the world progressively shifts to a low/neutral carbon economy over the course of the 21 st Century, geoscience will continue to play a vital role in the energy sector and beyond. Static and dynamic characterisation of the subsurface, a key component of the petroleum industry for decades, will be required to evaluate and unlock a variety of different initiatives including carbon, capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen (or any other gas) storage, thermal energy storage and geothermal energy development. Onshore and offshore Ireland and Great Britain, Lower Triassic sandstones are likely to represent one of the primary geological targets for future geoenergy applications. This paper provides a review of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group depositional system across the British and Irish region of NW Europe including its overall stratigraphic context, paleogeography, sediment provenance and transport directions, and present-day distribution. In addition to geological outcrop data, there is a wealth of subsurface data available from historical petroleum wells. Looking forward, one important focus of geoscience research will be to extrapolate away from these well-defined control points to predict sandstone facies distribution, diagenetic history and hence overall reservoir quality in new undrilled areas that will be of interest to the geothermal, CCS and gas storage sectors.