Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-20T19:43:47.423Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The development and destruction of porosity within Upper Jurassic reservoir sandstones of the Piper and Tartan Fields, Outer Moray Firth, North Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

S. D. Burley
S. D. Burley*
Affiliation:
Geologisches Institut, Universität Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Upper Jurassic Piper Formation sandstones of the Outer Moray Firth Basin, UK North Sea, form the main reservoir for the Piper and Tartan Fields, and are sealed by either the Kimmeridge Clay or Cretaceous marls. The main reservoir sandstones can be broadly considered as stacked coarsening-upward units that accumulated in a predominantly high-energy, shallow marine complex with depositional waters of inferred normal marine salinity, Eh and ionic composition. The amount of porosity and its distribution throughout these sandstones differs between the individual structural entities of the Piper and Tartan Fields. On the Piper structure all the sandstones are highly porous. Oil-zone porosities average 25% and are only slightly reduced in the water zone. Sandstones in the upthrown block of the Tartan structure are also generally porous but porosities are typically reduced to below 20%. Porosities are the most variable in the Tartan downthrown block and in the 15/17-9 well, off-structure Piper, where porous sandstones with between 14 and 18% porosity are associated with highly compacted and cemented sandstones with <5% porosity. Thin-section and SEM textural evidence indicate that much of the porosity in these sandstones is secondary, produced through the dissolution of an intergranular cement that provided support for the detrital framework, was peripherally replacive with respect to most detrital grains, and extensively replaced feldspars. Nodular concretions and sporadic, irregular crystals of ferroan calcite are inferred to be the remnants of this intergranular cement. The distribution of porosity zones in the Tartan downthrown block is related to the present structure and oil-water contact, supporting the interpretation of a secondary origin for much of the present porosity. Highly compacted sandstones interbedded with the porous sandstones result from a combination of early compaction, brittle framework collapse following the generation of secondary porosity and late grain-to-grain contact dissolution. Aggressive fluids responsible for the generation of the cement dissolution porosity are inferred to have been expelled from the Kimmeridge Clay in the adjacent Witch Ground Graben. The preservation of secondary porosity in Piper Formation sandstones is due to the relative timing of secondary porosity generation and subsequent hydrocarbon migration.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 649 - 694
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, S.W. (1980) Summary of recommendations of AIPEA nomenclature committee. Clay Miner. 15, 85–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baird, R.A. (1986) Maturation and source rock evaluation of Kimmeridge Clay, Norwegian North Sea. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 70, 1–11.Google Scholar
Barnard, P.C. & Cooper, B.S. (1981) Oils and source rocks of the North Sea. Pp. 169–175 in: Petroleum Geology of the Continental Shelf of north-west Europe (Illing, L. V. & Hobson, G. D., editors). Heyden and Son.Google Scholar
Beach, A. (1984) Structural evolution of the Witch Ground Graben. J. Geol. Soc. London 141, 621–628.Google Scholar
Beard, D.C. & Weyl, P.K. (1973) Influence of texture on porosity and permeability of unconsolidated sand. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. 57, 349–369.Google Scholar
Berg, R.R. & Habeck, M.F. (1982) Abnormal pressures in the lower Vicksburg, McAllen Ranch Field, South Texas. Gulf Coast Assoc. Geol. Soc. Trans. 32, 247–262.Google Scholar
Bissada, K.K. (1983) Petroleum generation in Mesozoic sediments of the Moray Firth Basin, British North Sea area. Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1981, 7–15. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Bjørlykke, K. (1983) Diagenetic reactions in sandstones. Pp. 169–214 in: Sediment diagenesis (Parker, A. & Sellwood, B. W., editors), NATO ASI, Ser. C, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 115.Google Scholar
Bjørlykke, K. (1984) Formation of secondary porosity: how important is it?. Pp. 277–286 in: Clastic Diagnesis (McDonald, D. A. & Surdam, R. C., editors). Mem. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 37.Google Scholar
Burley, S.D. & Kantorowicz, J.D. (1986) Thin section and S.E.M. textural criteria for the recognition of cement-dissolution porosity in sandstones. Sedimentology 33, 587–604.Google Scholar
Burst, J.F. (1969) Diagenesis of Gulf Coast argillaceous sediments and its possible relation to petroleum migration. Bull. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. 53, 73–93.Google Scholar
Carothers, W.W. & Kharaka, Y.K. (1980) Stable carbon isotopes of HCO3 − in oilfield waters: implications for the origin of CO2 . Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 44, 323–332.Google Scholar
Chadwick, R. (1985) Discussion on the structural evolution of the Witch Ground Graben. J. Geol. Soc. London 142, 931–932.Google Scholar
Christie, P.A.F. & Sclater, J.G. (1980) An extensional origin for the Buchan and Witch Ground Graben in the North Sea. Nature 283, 729–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colter, V.S. & Havard, D.J. (1981) The Wytch Farm Oil Field, Dorset. Pp. 495–503 in: Petroleum Geology of the Continental shelf of North-West Europe (Illing, L. V. & Hobson, G. D., editors). Heyden, London.Google Scholar
Cornford, C. (1984) Source rocks and hydrocarbons of the North Sea. Pp. 171–204 in: Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of the North Sea (Glennie, K. W., editor). Blackwells, Oxford.Google Scholar
Cornford, C., Morrow, J.A., Turrington, A., Miles, J.A. & Brooks, J. (1983) Some geological controls on oil composition in the U.K. North Sea. Pp. 175–194 in: Petroleum Geochemistry and Exploration of Europe (Brooks, J., editor). Spec. Publ. Geol. Soc. London 12.Google Scholar
Curtis, C.D. (1978) Possible links between sandstone diagenesis and depth related geochemical reactions in enclosing mudstones. J. Geol. Soc. 135, 107–118.Google Scholar
Curtis, C.D. (1983a) Link between aluminium mobility and destruction of secondary porosity. Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. 67, 380–393.Google Scholar
Curtis, C.D. (1983b) Geochemical studies on the development and destruction of secondary porosity. Pp. 113–125 in: Petroleum Geochemistry and Exploration of Europe (Brooks, J., editor). Spec. Pub. Geol. Soc. London 12.Google Scholar
Deegan, C.E. & Scull, B.J. (1977) A standard lithostratigraphical nomenclature for the Central and Northern North Sea. Rep. Inst. Geol. Sci. 77/25, HMSO.Google Scholar
Dypvik, H. (1983) Clay mineral transformations in Tertiary and Mesozoic sediments from the North Sea. A.A.P.G. Bull. 67, 160–165.Google Scholar
Fisher, M.J. & Miles, J.A. (1983) Kerogen types, organic maturation and hydrocarbon occurrences in the Moray Firth and South Viking Graben, North Sea Basin. Pp. 195–202 in: Petroleum Geochemistry and Exploration of Europe (Brooks, J., editor). Spec. Publ. Geol. Soc. London 12.Google Scholar
Fisher, M.J. & Jeans, C.V. (1986) Mineral diagenesis in Upper Jurassic sandstones, well 14/26-1, North Sea. Clay Miner. 21, 513–535.Google Scholar
Galloway, W.E. (1984) Hydrogeologic regimes of sandstone diagenesis. Pp. 3–14 in: Clastic diagenesis (McDonald, R. A. & Surdam, R. C., editors). Mem. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 37. Google Scholar
Giles, M.R. & Marshall, J.D. (1986) Constraints on the development of secondary porosity in the subsurface: re-evaluation of processes. Marine Petrol. Geol. 3, 243–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gluyas, J.G. (1985) Reduction and prediction of sandstone reservoir potential, Jurassic. North Sea. Phil Trans. R. Soc. London A315, 187–202.Google Scholar
Goff, J.C. (1983) Hydrocarbon generation and migration from Jurassic source rocks in the E. Shetland Basin and Viking Graben of the northern North Sea. J. Geol. Soc. London 140, 445–474.Google Scholar
Halfman, S.E., Uppmann, M.J., Zelwer, R. & Howard, J.H. (1984) Geologic interpretation of geothermal fluid movement in Cerro Prieto Field, Baja California, Mexico. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 68, 18–30.Google Scholar
Hayes, J.B. (1979) Sandstone diagenesis—the hole truth. Pp. 127–139 in: Aspects of Diagenesis (Scholle, P. A. & Schluger, P. R., editors,) Spec. Publ. Soc. Econ. Pal. Min. 26.Google Scholar
Hunt, J.M. (1979) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology. W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, 716 pp.Google Scholar
Irwin, H., Curtis, C.D. & Coleman, M.L. (1977) Isotopic evidence for source of diagenetic carbonates formed during burial of organic-rich sediments. Nature 269, 209–213.Google Scholar
Johnson, H.D. & Stewart, D.J. (1985) The role of clastic sedimentology in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the North Sea. Pp. 249–310 in: Sedimentology, Recent Developments and Applied Aspects (Brenchley, P. J. & Williams, B. P. J., editors). Spec. Publ. Geol. Soc. London 18.Google Scholar
Johnson, R.J. & Dingwall, B.G. (1981) The Caldonides: their influence on the stratigraphy of the North West European Shelf. Pp. 86–97 in: Petroleum Geology of the Continental Shelf of Northwest Europe (Illing, L. V. & Hobson, G. D., editors). Heyden & Sons, London.Google Scholar
Kantorowicz, J.D. (1985) The petrology and diagenesis of Middle Jurassic clastic sediments, Ravenscar Group, Yorkshire. Sedimentology 32, 833–853.Google Scholar
Kellerhals, R., Church, M. & Bray, D.I. (1975) Classification and analysis of river processes. J. Hydraulics Div.,Am. Soc. Civil Eng. 102 HY7,813–829.Google Scholar
Land, L.S. & Dutton, S.D. (1978) Cementation of a Pennsylvanian deltaic sandstone: isotopic data. J. Sed. Petrol. 48, 1167–1176.Google Scholar
Leeder, M.R. (1983) Lithospheric stretching and North Sea Jurassic clastic sourcelands. Nature 305, 510–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundegard, P.D., Land, L.S. & Galloway, W.E. (1984) Problem of secondary porosity: Frio Formation (Oligocene) Texas Gulf Coast. Geology 12, 399–402.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maher, C.E. (1980) The Piper Oilfield. Pp. 131–172 in: Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1968-1978 (Halbouty, M. T., editor). Mem. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 30.Google Scholar
Maher, C.E. (1981a) Development geology of the Piper Oilfield. Oceanology International 80, 13–24 (Proc. Oceanology Internation Conference, May 1980).Google Scholar
Maher, C.E. (1981b) The Piper Oilfield. Pp. 358–370 in: Petroleum Geology of the Continental Shelf of North West Europe (Illing, L. V. & Hobson, G. D., editors). Heyden & Son, London.Google Scholar
Matter A., & Ramseyer, K. (1985) Cathodoluminescence microscopy as a tool for provenance studies of sandstone. Pp. 191–211 in: Provenance of Arenites (Zuffa, G. G., editor). NATO ASI, Reidel.Google Scholar
McBride, E.F. (1963) A classification of common sandstones. J. Sedim. Petrol. 33, 664–669.Google Scholar
McKenzie, D.P. (1978) Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins. Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 40, 25–32.Google Scholar
McQuillin, R., Donato, J.A. & Tulstrup, J. (1982) Development of basins in the Inner Moray Firth and the North Sea by crustal extension and dextral displacement of the Great Glen Fault. Earth Planet. Sci. Letters 60, 127–139.Google Scholar
Morton, A. (1986) Dissolution of apatite in North Sea Jurassic sandstones: implications for the generation of secondary porosity. Clay Miner. 21,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, N. (1965) The Bearreraig Sandstone Series (Middle Jurassic) of Skye and Raasay. Scot. J. Geol. 1, 189–216.Google Scholar
Pearson, M.J., Watkins, D. & Small, J.S. (1982) Clay diagenesis and Organic Maturation in Northern North Sea Sediments. Proc. Int. Clay Conf. Bologna and Pavia, 665–675.Google Scholar
Pearson, M.J., Watkins, D., Pittion, J.-L., Caston, D. & Small, J.S. (1983) Diagenesis, organic maturation and palaeothermal history of an area in the South Viking Graben, North Sea. Pp. 161–174 in: Petroleum Geochemistry and Exploration of Europe (Brooks, J., editor). Geol. Soc. London, Spec. Publ. 12.Google Scholar
Perry, E.A. & Hower, J. (1972) Late stage dehydration in deeply buried pelitic sediments. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. 56, 2013–2021.Google Scholar
Powers, M.C. (1967) Fluid-release mechanisms in compacting marine mudrocks, and their importance to oil exploration. Bull Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. 51, 1240–1254.Google Scholar
Ramseyer, K. (1982) Cathodoluminescence microscopy, a powerful tool in sandstone petrology. Abstracts 11th Int. Congress on Sedimentology Hamilton. Google Scholar
Rawson, P.E. & Riley, L.A. (1982) Latest Jurassic—Early Cretaceous events and the “Late Cimmerian Unconformity” in the North Sea Area. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 66, 2628–2648.Google Scholar
Robin, P.L. & Rouxhet, P.G. (1978) Characterization of kerogens and study of their evolution by infrared spectroscopy: carbonyl and carboxyl groups. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42, 1341–1349.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, M.A. (1949) Some aspects of porosity and cementation. Prod. Month. Penn. Oil Prod. Ass. 13, 39–42.Google Scholar
Schmidt, V. & McDonald, D.A. (1979a) The role of secondary porosity in the course of sandstone diagenesis. Pp. 175–208 in: Aspects of Diagenesis (Scholle, P. A. & Schluger, P. R., editors). S.E.P.M. Spec. Publ. 26.Google Scholar
Schmidt, V. & McDonald, D.A. (1979b) Texture and recognition of secondary porosity in sandstones. Pp. 209–225 in: Aspects of Diagenesis (Scholle, P. A. & Schluger, P. R., editors). S.E.P.M. Spec. Publ. 26.Google Scholar
Sibson, R.H., Moore, McM. & Rankin, A.H. (1975) Seismic pumping—a hydrothermal fluid transport mechanism. J. Geol. Soc. London 131, 653–659.Google Scholar
Srodon, J. (1980) Precise identification of illite-smectite interstratifications by X-ray powder diffraction. Clays Clay Miner. 28, 401–411.Google Scholar
Srodon, J. (1984) X-ray powder diffraction identification of illitic materials. Clays Clay Miner. 32, 337–349.Google Scholar
Stewart, D.J. (1986) Diagenesis of the shallow marine Fulmar Formation in the Central North Sea. Clay Miner. 21, 537–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surdam, R.C., Boese, S.W. & Crossey, L.J. (1984) The chemistry of secondary porosity. Pp. 151–162 in: Clastic Diagenesis (McDonald, D. A. & Surdam, R.C., editors). Mem. Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. 37.Google Scholar
Tan, F.C. & Hudson, J.D. (1974) Isotopic studies on the palaeoecology and diagenesis of the Great Esturine Series (Jurassic) of Scotland. Scot. J. Geol. 10, 91–128.Google Scholar
Tissot, B., Durrand, B., Espitalie, J. & Combaz, A. (1974) Influence and nature of diagenesis of organic matter in the formation of petroleum. Bull. Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. 58, 499–506.Google Scholar
Tissot, B.P. & Welte, D.H. (1978) Petroleum Formation and Occurrence. Springer Verlag, Berlin. 538 pp.Google Scholar
Turner, C.C., Richards, P.C., Shallow, J.L. & Grimshaw, S.P. (1984) Upper Jurassic stratigraphy and sedimentary facies in the Central Outer Moray Firth Basin, North Sea. J. Marine Petrol. Geol. 1, 105–117.Google Scholar
Vail, P.R., Mitchum, R.M. & Todd, R.G. (1977) Eustatic model for the North Sea during the Mesozoic. Pp. 1–12 in: Mesozoic Northern North Sea Symposium Proceedings, Oslo, Norway. Norwegian Petroleum Soc.Google Scholar
Weir, A.H., Ormerod, E.C. & El Mansey, I.M.I. (1975) Clay mineralogy of sediments of the Western Niger Delta. Clay Miner. 10, 369–386.Google Scholar
Whiteman, A., Naylor, D., Pegrin, R. & Rees, G. (1975) North Sea troughs and plate tectonics. Tectonphysics 26, 39–54.Google Scholar
Williams, J.J., Conner, D.C. & Peterson, K.E. (1975) The Piper Oil Field, UK North Sea: A fault block Structure with Upper Jurassic Beach Bar reservoir sands. Pp. 363–377 in: Petr. and Cont. Shelf NW Europe, VoL 1: Geology (Woodland, A. W., editor). Applied Sci. Publ., Barking, Essex.Google Scholar
Woodhall, D. & Knox, R.W.O'B. (1979) Mesozoic volcanism in the northern North Sea and adjacent areas. Bull. Geol. Surv. G.B. 70, 34–55.Google Scholar
Ziegler, P.A. (1981) Evolution of sedimentary basins in North West Europe. Pp. 3–42 in: Petroleum Geology of the Continental Shelf of Northwest Europe (Illing, L. & Hobson, G. D., editors). Heyden & Son.Google Scholar