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Dug

Oil & Gas

Back on the shelf

As TotalEnergies is moving ahead developing its deep-water discoveries in Block 58 in Suriname waters,…

Aberdeen Energy Talks

Energy Transition

Carbon Capture & Storage

Geothermal

Seabed Minerals

The world’s largest SMS deposits

The terrain along the ultra-slow-spreading Mohns Ridge in the Norwegian Sea is continu­ously renewing itself…

New Gas

Exploration Opportunities

The future has arrived

Cyber Punk’s visionary pioneer William Gibson wrote, "The future has arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet”. And certainly the future on the Atlantic’s passive margins is not evenly distributed because the future there lies in hybrid systems; gravity-driven clastic turbidite flows that have been modified during and after deposition by coast-parallel contourite currents.
Gravity-driven turbidites were once assumed to be the dominant (even the “only”) process controlling deep water sediment deposition, but in a remarkable metaphor for modern life, it turns out that it's the actions of unseen cross-currents that gives shape to what is created. Indeed, contourites rarely leave clear fingerprints on the deepwater sediments we see at outcrop, yet they may have significantly altered the composition of the flow such that classic turbidite Bouma sequences are not deposited at all. Removal of the fine sediment fraction of a turbulent flow, thereby increasing net sand of subsequently deposited sediment (building mud and silt drifts at the same time), creation of asymmetric levees in slope systems that lead to channel migration, evolution of depositional topology on the slope and basin floor, and reworking, redistribution laterally of basin floor sediments are all products of the interactions between gravity driven turbidite flows and contour following currents.

Discover more in Møre, Norway

As demonstrated by recent exploration success, Viridien’s Northern Viking Graben (NVG) seismic survey in the Northern North Sea has already proven to be a valuable exploration tool. Thanks to the high-quality seismic data in this geologically challenging area, prospects are better defined, allowing for qualified drill decisions. In 2024, Viridien applied the latest seismic acquisition and imaging technology to add a northern extension, known as NVG24 (green polygon in Figures 2 and 3), to its current coverage over the NVG so that it now extends into the Møre Basin and Møre Platform in the Norwegian Sea. A glimpse of the early fast-track data from NVG24 is shown in the foldout juxtaposed with fully imaged data from the NVG East- West (EW) coverage (Figures 2 and 3). The upcoming NVG24 final data will be of the same high quality and reveal structural and stratigraphic details at the Manet Ridge, Marulk Basin, Gnausen High and the Møre Platform (Figure 3).

Geological understanding based on new data is required to unlock potential in the Vøring Basin

Highlights:

  • New high-quality seismic and FWI velocity attributes to identify petroleum plays and prospects
  • Refinement of sedimentary systems and sand deposits in regions with complex geology
  • Identification and mapping of deep-water Paleogene source-to-sink sedimentary systems
  • New understanding of volcanic basin processes and deposits
  • Interaction between volcanic rocks / sill intrusions and sediments
  • Maturation and focused migration of hydrocarbons from deeper structures to shallow reservoirs in hydrothermal vent complexes (HTVC)
  • Tie to industry and scientific boreholes and seabed sampling locations

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