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Controls on Bunter Sandstone composition (CASP.BSSC.5)

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  2. Controls on Bunter Sandstone composition (CASP.BSSC.5)

Controls on Bunter Sandstone composition (CASP.BSSC.5)

The Bunter Sandstone Formation and correlative strata in the Dutch sector of the Southern North Sea are important candidate reservoirs for the geological storage of CO2 and will play a key role in the UK’s Net Zero Strategy. The formation is currently lacking provenance data, which can help to constrain several key factors for storage assessment including sediment routing patterns, lateral compositional and net-to-gross variability, and reservoir quality. The limited existing data suggests that the interval had a complex provenance involving widely spaced source regions and large sediment transport systems. This project will address this knowledge gap via a multi-proxy approach, whereby several provenance-sensitive parameters will be systematically analysed from a number of wells that penetrate the Bunter Sandstone Formation and equivalents across the UK and Dutch sectors.

Research programme

Sampling (every 10 m) of the Bunter Sandstone Formation will be undertaken on core from at least five wells from the UK sector, two wells from the Dutch offshore sector, and one UK onshore well. The same cores will be logged in detail as part of Project 4 (CASP.BSSC.4). An initial batch of conventional heavy mineral provenance analyses will guide the focus of more detailed work involving single grain analyses. The aim is to identify provenance changes throughout the formation and across the study region. Together with the findings of the other projects in this research theme, this will reveal how provenance has impacted reservoir quality.

Bunter Project Sandstone Core
Figure 1. Bunter Sandstone Formation core from the Endurance CCS appraisal well, Southern North Sea (BGS borehole database).

Deliverables

Results will be delivered via interim data releases with associated presentations for client companies and a final technical report containing:

  • Conventional heavy mineral data and provenance-sensitive index values
  • Garnet geochemistry data
  • Combined apatite U-Pb age and geochemistry data
  • Zircon U-Pb age data
  • Feldspar Pb data

The data will be presented in tables and charts alongside core logs and used to refine the sediment transport path map in Figure 2. Sediment source regions will be proposed based on a comparison with data in the literature and the significance of provenance as a control on reservoir quality will be considered. It will conclude with a client workshop during which all data and interpretations will be presented and discussed.

Bunter Project Map
Figure 2. Early Triassic paleogeography for the Southern North Sea with proposed well sample sites to be studied during this project. Potential sediment pathways are indicated with blue lines. Modified from Geluk et al. (2018).

Project duration

The project will launch at the beginning of July 2022 and has a planned duration of 22 months.

Contact(s): Adam Szulc for further information about this research and licensing options.

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    • Black Sea Project 2019-2021
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  • Mudrock Seals in CO2 Storage Systems Thematic Research
    • Outcrop-scale mudrock seal heterogeneities (CASP.MSP.1)
    • Mechanical stratigraphy and fault damage zone characterisation (CASP.MSP.2)
  • Bunter Sandstone Storage Complex Thematic Research
    • A palynozonation of the Bunter Sandstone CO2 storage complex: onshore analogue study (CASP.BSSC.1)
    • Palynostratigraphy of the Bunter Sandstone CO2 storage complex in the Southern North Sea (CASP.BSSC.2)
    • Cyclostratigraphy of the Early to Middle Triassic of the Southern North Sea (CASP.BSSC.3)
    • Reservoir composition and diagenesis (CASP.BSSC.4)
    • Controls on Bunter Sandstone composition (CASP.BSSC.5)
    • Uppermost Permian to Middle Triassic seals – onshore analogue study (CASP.BSSC.6)
    • Uppermost Permian to Middle Triassic seals – UK and Dutch offshore wells study (CASP.BSSC.7)
  • Reactions and Flow of CO2 Fluid in Compositionally Immature Sandstones Thematic Research
    • The impact of provenance and diagenetic reaction gradients on CO2 fluid-reservoir interactions (CASP.RFP.1)
    • Fluid flow simulations through different immature sandstone reservoirs (CASP.RFP.2)
  • The Impact of Volcaniclastic Rocks on CO2 Storage Thematic Research
    • Petrophysical database for volcaniclastic rocks (CASP.IVR.1)
    • Pore connectivity analysis of volcaniclastic rocks (CASP.IVR.2)
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