K 2019
The Cretaceous World:
Unique Geology and Rich
Petroleum Endowment
YEAR OF THE
CRETACEOUS
“This year, we carried out an
integrated investigation of
Cretaceous frontiers to provide
innovative, big-picture thinking.”
Welcome to this Cretaceous Special Edition of the Exploration
Insights magazine, marking the culmination of the ‘Year of the
Cretaceous’ work undertaken at Neftex ® Insights.
In the context of present-day exploration, Cretaceous rocks contain
some of the most eagerly pursued plays, including deep-water
clastic and carbonate build-up reservoirs. This year, we carried out an
integrated investigation of Cretaceous frontiers to provide innovative,
big-picture thinking that delivers a considered ranking and high-
grading of these exploration opportunities.
Throughout 2019, we have published articles spanning Cretaceous fan
scaling, climate modeling, and specific basin studies. In this edition,
we explore the value of a systematic and predictive approach to
investigating Cretaceous events and trends, and we examine the link
between Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) and the deposition
of source rocks. We also look at how cloud-hosted technologies can
help to assess global exploration potential.,
We continue our popular Exploration Handbook series, which defines
not only the exploration process, but documents the risks that certain
products or disciplines attempt to constrain. This month, we discuss
the interpretation and analysis of seismic data.
Your interest in this publication is very much appreciated and your
feedback is always welcome.
The unique geology and rich petroleum
endowment of the Cretaceous
encompasses a series of time-specific
events and trends that can act as powerful
predictive tools. This article illustrates, by
means of a series of stratigraphic charts,
how these main events and trends can
facilitate Cretaceous petroleum exploration.
CONTENTS
04
Adding Context to Oceanic
Anoxic Events as Source
Rock Drivers: A New
Approach for Frontier Areas
Mis-prediction of source rock is the
main reason that frontier wells fail to find
commerical quantities of hydrocarbons. The
concept of ocean anoxic events is commonly
used to predict source rocks in these areas,
especially for Cretaceous sediments. We
investigate the prevalence of OAE-related,
organic-rich deposits and evaluate how well
source rocks can be predicted using an Earth
System Science approach.
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Editor
Rebecca Head
Editorial Advisors
Mike Simmons
Thomas Jewell
Design and Circulation
Stefanie Clayton
On the cover: Old Harry, Dorset
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A Global Approach to
Screening Exploration
Potential
This article explores how regional
subsurface interpretations and data can
be synthesized into a consistent, global
assessment of exploration potential.
In addition, it will examine how the
application of standards at this early
stage in the exploration workflow enables
cloud-hosted processing technologies
to assimilate new data quickly, and
update the analysis rapidly, as exploration
proceeds.
22
The Exploration Handbook
— Seismic Data
Helen Smyth
DOMAIN OWNER BASIN ANALYSIS
This magazine is published by Halliburton Landmark.
For comments and suggestions contact:
[email protected].
Seismic analysis is the fundamental tool
for exploration. It is used to generate mega
sequence, framework, and rock property
models for subsurface assets. These
models illuminate the value of an asset or
are used to plan strategies for subsurface
intervention. Uncertainties surround these
models and an appreciation of them is
vital.,
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