An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Petroleum Geology of the North Sea & NW Europe
Petroleum Systems of the North Sea
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
13 Dec 2027
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Petroleum Geology of the North Sea & NW Europe
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Petroleum Geology of the North Sea & NW Europe - GG-REGNS-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-REGNS-PEA27 | 13 - 17 Dec 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
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Petroleum Geology of the North Sea & NW Europe
This training covers the petroleum geology of the North Sea and northwest Europe. It works through the tectonic framework and rift history, the Permian Rotliegend and Zechstein systems, Triassic and Jurassic plays, the Kimmeridge Clay source system, the Brent and Fulmar reservoirs, Cretaceous chalk plays, Palaeogene turbidite plays, the Atlantic Margin and Barents Sea, the Southern North Sea and onshore Europe, and the mature province opportunities that remain.
Description
The North Sea is the most thoroughly studied petroleum province in the world, with dense well coverage, extensive seismic, decades of published work and a complete range of play types from Permian gas to Palaeogene deepwater oil. That makes it both a working province and the reference case for petroleum geology generally: many of the concepts applied globally in rift basin exploration, in chalk reservoirs, in salt tectonics and in deepwater clastic prediction were developed or refined here.
This training covers the province systematically. The tectonic framework and rift history are established first, covering the Caledonian basement, the Permian basins, the Triassic and Jurassic rifting and the Cenozoic subsidence. The Permian Rotliegend and Zechstein systems follow. Triassic and Jurassic plays are then developed. The Kimmeridge Clay source system follows as the charge for most of the province's oil. The Brent and Fulmar reservoirs are then addressed. Cretaceous chalk plays follow. Palaeogene turbidite plays are then developed. The Atlantic Margin and Barents Sea follow. The Southern North Sea and onshore Europe are addressed. The training closes with remaining opportunities.
The Kimmeridge Clay is the charge for almost all North Sea oil. This Late Jurassic marine shale, deposited in the deepening rift under restricted and anoxic conditions, is organic-rich, widely distributed and buried to maturity in the rift axes of the Viking Graben, Central Graben and Moray Firth. Almost every major oil accumulation in the province is charged from it, which means the maturity of the Kimmeridge Clay, mapped from burial history, predicts where oil can be found far better than any other single variable.
The Southern North Sea gas province works on a completely different system. Gas there is generated from Westphalian Carboniferous coals, reservoired in the Permian Rotliegend aeolian sandstones, and sealed by the overlying Zechstein evaporites. The system is entirely Permo-Carboniferous and entirely independent of the Jurassic system that charges the oil provinces to the north. The Zechstein salt also moved, producing the salt structures that form many of the traps.
Chalk is a reservoir because of overpressure and fractures, not because of normal compaction behaviour. Late Cretaceous chalk in the Central Graben and the Danish sector retains porosities of thirty to forty-five per cent at depths where normal compaction would have reduced it substantially, because early overpressure arrested the compaction. Permeability is low in the matrix and the fields produce through fractures and through the high porosity itself, and the rock is weak enough that compaction during depletion contributes substantially to recovery.
Finally, the Palaeogene turbidite plays required a different exploration approach. The Forties, Balder, Sele and Frigg sandstones were deposited as deepwater fans in the subsiding Cenozoic basin, and their traps are largely stratigraphic: sand pinch-outs, channel fills and mounded fans, often with little structural closure. Finding them depended on seismic amplitude interpretation and on understanding the depositional systems, which made them a different exploration problem from the structurally trapped Jurassic plays.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe the tectonic framework and rift history of northwest Europe
- Describe the Permian Rotliegend and Zechstein petroleum system
- Describe Triassic and Jurassic plays and their reservoirs
- Map and apply the Kimmeridge Clay source system
- Describe the Brent and Fulmar reservoir systems
- Explain chalk reservoir behaviour and the role of overpressure
- Describe Palaeogene turbidite plays and their trapping
- Describe the Atlantic Margin and Barents Sea plays
- Describe the Southern North Sea and onshore European plays
- Assess remaining opportunities in a mature province
The training works through regional sections, stratigraphic charts and field case studies drawing on the extensive published literature. Participants build petroleum system summaries by sub-basin, map source maturity against discovered volumes, and assess remaining play potential. Discovery and dry hole histories are examined for the controls on each outcome.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Build regional understanding for North Sea operations
- Place field scale work in its regional context
- Assess remaining potential in a mature province
- Use the province as a reference for analogue work elsewhere
- Improve the geological induction of staff new to the region
- Support late life and infrastructure led exploration
Participants will:
- Know the North Sea's plays and their basis
- Relate basins to the rift history
- Map and use the Kimmeridge Clay system
- Understand chalk reservoir behaviour
- Describe the major fields and their geology
- Assess remaining provincial potential
- Geoscientists working in the North Sea and northwest Europe
- Exploration staff assessing mature province opportunities
- Development geologists in regional assets
- Geoscientists using the province as an analogue
- Technical staff supporting regional operations
- Graduate geoscientists entering the region
- Staff working on storage repurposing of regional assets
Module 1 - Tectonic Framework
- Caledonian basement and its structure
- Devonian Old Red Sandstone basins
- Carboniferous basin development
- Variscan deformation
- Permian basin formation
- Triassic rifting
- Jurassic rift climax
- Triple junction and the three grabens
- Late Jurassic rifting and subsidence
- Cretaceous thermal subsidence
- Cenozoic basin subsidence and tilting
- Atlantic opening and margin formation
Module 2 - Permian System
- Westphalian Coal Measures source rocks
- Coal maturity and gas generation
- Rotliegend depositional setting
- Aeolian dune and interdune facies
- Fluvial and sabkha facies
- Rotliegend reservoir quality controls
- Zechstein evaporite cycles
- Zechstein carbonate reservoirs
- Salt tectonics and structures
- Trap styles in the Southern North Sea
- Southern gas basin fields
- Onshore Netherlands and Germany plays
Module 3 - Triassic and Jurassic Reservoirs
- Triassic Skagerrak and Smith Bank
- Triassic reservoir quality
- Statfjord Formation
- Early Jurassic Dunlin group
- Brent Group delta system
- Broom, Rannoch, Etive, Ness and Tarbert
- Brent reservoir architecture
- Fulmar Formation shoreface sandstones
- Fulmar reservoir quality
- Upper Jurassic submarine fan sandstones
- Magnus and Brae sandstones
- Reservoir distribution and rift control
Module 4 - Kimmeridge Clay System
- Kimmeridge Clay depositional setting
- Rift topography and restriction
- Anoxia and organic preservation
- Organic richness and kerogen type
- Hot shale units
- Distribution across the grabens
- Burial history and maturity
- Maturity mapping
- Oil and gas windows
- Migration pathways and distances
- Charge to individual fields
- Other source rocks in the province
Module 5 - Chalk Plays
- Late Cretaceous chalk deposition
- Coccolith and nannofossil composition
- Normal chalk compaction behaviour
- Overpressure and porosity preservation
- Porosity at depth in the Central Graben
- Matrix permeability limitations
- Fracture contribution to flow
- Chalk reservoir types
- Redeposited and allochthonous chalk
- Danish sector chalk fields
- Ekofisk and compaction drive
- Water weakening and subsidence
Module 6 - Palaeogene Plays
- Cenozoic basin subsidence
- Palaeocene deepwater systems
- Forties and Sele sandstones
- Balder and Frigg sandstones
- Submarine fan architecture
- Sand injectites and their recognition
- Stratigraphic trapping
- Amplitude driven exploration
- Eocene and Oligocene plays
- Shallow gas and its hazards
- Palaeogene field examples
- Remaining Palaeogene potential
Module 7 - Atlantic Margin and Barents Sea
- Faroe-Shetland basin
- Palaeocene sandstone reservoirs
- Basalt and its imaging problems
- West of Shetland fields
- Rockall and Hatton basins
- Norwegian Sea: Haltenbanken and Halten Terrace
- Are, Tilje, Ile and Garn reservoirs
- Norwegian Sea source rocks
- Barents Sea structure and uplift
- Uplift and seal breaching risk
- Snohvit and Goliat fields
- Arctic exploration considerations
Module 8 - Mature Province Opportunities
- Infrastructure led exploration
- Near field and satellite prospects
- Subtle trap exploration
- High pressure high temperature plays
- Deep Jurassic and Triassic plays
- Fractured basement plays
- Infill and redevelopment opportunities
- Enhanced recovery applications
- Mature field abandonment timing
- CO2 storage conversion potential
- Data availability and its use
- Screening mature province opportunities
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
