Subsurface Interpretation of the Lower Cretaceous Clastic Wedges, Tromsø and Harstad Basins, South Western Barents Sea

Abstract

The lower Cretaceous is an underexplored play in the Norwegian Barents Sea. Targets for exploration have been the Triassic and Jurassic sandstones. Technical discoveries of oil and gas of lower Cretaceous clastic wedges in the Barents Sea proves that there is a high potential for future exploration. The southwestern part of the Barents Sea, especially the Tromso and Harstad basins, consists of a complex series of rotated fault blocks and terraces along the basin margins. The clastic inputs to the basins are related to the development of the fault blocks during Early Cretaceous rifting, previous to the opening of the North Atlantic. The Loppa High and the Finnmark platform were subaerially exposed in Cretaceous, suggesting an important source of sediments. The lower Cretaceous Knurr Formation shows a clear potential for future exploration. The Knurr Formation sands are best developed along the basin margins in wedge shaped geometries.