A RIFT‐RELATED STRATIGRAPHIC TRAP

Abstract

During the prospectivity analysis of the 40 blocks of the 8th Norwegian round of licensing, a potential “giant” stratigraphic trap was discovered. Its evolutionary histroy makes it especially interesting from a regional point of view.Well information from neighbouring blocks and high quality seismic data has made this possible.In block 16/4 in the southern part of the Viking Graben, a combined stratigraphic/structural trap was formed during the Late Paleocene‐Early Eocene.A submarine fan sequence reached across the viking Graben from the Shetland Platform onto the western flank of the Utsira High of block 16/4 during the Early Paleocene. Later, the Tertiary basins sank with the depo‐centers centered over the old graben. This sinking, together with reactivation of old faults in the southern part of block 16/1 and the northern part of block 16/4 during the Late Paleocene‐Early Eocene, created a large trap. This type of trap is typical for early post‐rift sequences where the post‐rift basin development is governed by the old lines of weakness inherited from the underlying aborted rift.