The reservoir development of the Late Maastrichtian–Early Paleocene Ormen Lange gas field, Møre Basin, Mid-Norwegian Shelf

Abstract

The giant Ormen Lange Gas Field is situated in the Møre Basin, Norwegian Sea, at water depths around 1000 m. The reservoir interval consists of a lower heterolithic unit mainly of Maastrichtian age (Jorsalfare Formation) and an upper sandstone unit of Danian age (Egga Member, Våle Formation), separated by a widely distributed mudstone unit (‘Våle Tight’), and consists of both high and low density turbidites in association with fine-grained background sediments. The reservoir interval spans the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary, without any major stratigraphic breaks. The main architectural elements of the reservoir are: channel-dominated deposits, channelized lobe deposits and non-channelized frontal splay or fan fringe deposits. The spatial distribution of these facies elements indicates a dynamic system with changing sediment supply through time. Core and log studies from the wells have been integrated with high-resolution biostratigraphy to develop a dynamic depositional model. During latest Cretaceous and Paleocene times, a series of subtle sub-basins developed along the southeastern Møre Basin margin as a result of differential subsidence above Jurassic extensional faults. The sub-basins created a stepped slope topography that influenced the flow pattern of turbidity currents. In a landward position, east of the Ormen Lange Field, the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary is characterized by a major unconformity, implying erosion and sediment by-pass. In early Danian time, uplift and rotation of the provenance area to the east (Norwegian mainland) led to extensive erosion and redistribution of sandy sediments into the Møre Basin and caused deposition of the Egga Member. The turbidites filled the intraslope basins initially in a basinwards-stepping sense, but later sedimentation switched landward. Onshore structural, provenance and geomorphological data, combined with offshore structural, seismic and sedimentological data, yield an integrated interpretation of the deep-water depositional system in the greater Ormen Lange area. Present fjords at Møre, controlled by the Møre–Trøndelag fault zone, were valley systems that fed sands to a point source updip of the Ormen Lange area. The point source was located at the transition/relay zone between a narrow shelf area in the south and a broad shelf area in the north. In addition to being a key transition zone for both Caledonian and Jurassic structures, this zone area is also the ‘landing’ point of the major oceanic Jan Mayen Fracture Zone.