Geosciences

Finder improves imaging of North Sea Whitsun prospect

Feb. 21, 2024

Finder Energy has issued an update on its analysis concerning the potentially large Whitsun exploration prospect in the North Sea as well as updates on its offshore Australia projects.

Offshore staff

SOUTH PERTH, Australia — Finder Energy has issued an update on its analysis concerning the potentially large Whitsun exploration prospect in licenses P2527 & P2528 in the South Halibut Basin in the UK central North Sea.

The company has a 60% operated interest in the two permits.

Upper Jurassic sandstones contain prospective stratigraphic traps identified on four vintage 3D datasets. Finder has performed Big Buzz 3D, a broadband, full-waveform inversion, prestack depth migration reprocessing of the 3D data, applying a "high-end" processing flow to produce a final merged contiguous dataset over both licenses and surrounding analogous oil fields.

The results have substantially improved imaging at the target objectives and also understanding of the key trapping mechanisms and reservoir distribution.

According to the company, Whitsun is an analogue to the 1 Bbbl-plus producing Buzzard Field in the basin to the north. Whitsun is a stratigraphic trap of the Buzzard sandstone reservoir sealed by Kimmeridge clay formation deep marine shales.

Mapping on Big Buzz 3D has revealed similar seismic reflectivity and geometries to the Buzzard area, interpreted as mass flow channels and turbidites.

Recent basin modeling simulations also suggest that Whitsun is optimally located for hydrocarbon charge and is adjacent to the early mature source kitchen within the Peterhead Graben, which contains rich oil source rocks units within the Kimmeridge clay shales.

Offshore northwest Australia in the Ashmore-Cartier Basin, the company operates the AC/P 61 permit within the prolific Vulcan sub-basin and surrounded by various oil discoveries.

It contains the Gem prospect, estimated by ERCE to contain prospective resources of up to 137 MMbbl.

Gem is a trap mapped on 3D seismic data acquired in 2020 and potentially in a position to receive hydrocarbons from the proven Cartier Trough source kitchen. Analysis of more than 50 nearby wells revealed an exploration success rate of more than 60% for those wells that were drilled on valid traps, Finder says.