Diagnetic history and reservoir quality of a Brent Sand sequence

Abstract

AbstractThe Etive Formation of the Middle Jurassic Brent Group in part of the Northern North Sea comprises dominantly clean, fine- to medium-grained sands, deposited as part of a barrier-bar complex. The overlying Ness Formation was deposited on supra- or intertidal fiats, and comprises silty channel sands with silts, muds and thin coals. The sands of both Formations are mainly quartz-rich, with up to 12% by volume of feldspar, and variable proportions of clayey matrix. Early carbonate cementation preceded a phase of quartz overgrowth, which continued during burial. Later dissolution of unstable grains, dominantly feldspars, was followed by precipitation of pore-filling kaolinite and minor late-stage mineral phases. Better permeability of the Ness sands (up to 500 mD) relative to the Etive (mostly <10 mD) is mainly due to the effects of diagenesis on different lithofacies. Silty sands escaped intense quartz cementation and were thus more affected by acid groundwaters which improved permeability.