Revival of the Northeast Netherlands Onshore Rotliegende Play

Abstract

The Rotliegende play within the Netherlands came into being with the drilling of the Slochteren 1 well in 1959 and the subsequent discovery of the supergiant Groningen gas field. Subsequently, volumes found within the Rotliegende in the northeast Netherlands have followed the characteristic trend of decreasing size with time. This is of course a primary trend, and creaming curves quite often display revivals throughout the life of play/basin. Within the northeast onshore, the Rotliegende play is presently undergoing a revival due to the combination of three-dimensional (3-D) seismic information and the introduction of the Ten Boer lateral seal concept. This probably is illustrated best by the discovery of the Grijpskerk gas field in 1990, which was the largest Rotliegende discovery in the northeast Netherlands since 1965, and which led directly to a more aggressive Rotliegende drilling campaign and to the discovery of an even larger field at Munnekezijl in 1992. The acquisition of fairway 3-D over this well established hydrocarbon province has highlighted the value of integrating regional 3-D mapping with numerous field examples to reassess the lateral sealing characteristics of the Ten Boer claystone. The successful drilling over the last couple of years attests to the power of modernmore » 3-D as it confirmed: the integrity of the 3-D based structural picture, which was dramatically different from the two-dimensional based mapping; the reliability of direct hydrocarbon indications by measurements/observations at the reservoir level; and the validity of the new sealing concept.« less