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Raiders of the Lost Mud: the geology behind drilling incidents within the Balder Formation around the Corona Ridge, West of Shetland

View ORCID ProfileDouglas Watson, View ORCID ProfileNick Schofield, View ORCID ProfileAlistair Maguire, Christine Telford, Niall Mark, Stuart Archer and View ORCID ProfileJonathon Hardman
Petroleum Geoscience, 9 November 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-060
Douglas Watson
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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Nick Schofield
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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  • ORCID record for Nick Schofield
  • For correspondence: n.schofield@abdn.ac.uk
Alistair Maguire
Schlumberger, Peregrine Road, Elrick, Westhill AB32 6TJ, UK
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Christine Telford
CTC Geo Ltd, 176 Portland Road, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1DJ, UK
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Niall Mark
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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Stuart Archer
Mærsk Olie og Gas A/S, Amerika Plads 29, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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Jonathon Hardman
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UKDepartment of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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Abstract

The Faroe–Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic continental margin, hosts a number of important hydrocarbon fields; although deep water and narrow weather windows mean that drilling costs are considerably higher than for other parts of the UK Continental Shelf. Any additional drilling complications are therefore important to predict and negate as such issues can result in avoidable multi-million pound cost implications. This study focuses on the Corona Ridge, an intrabasinal high which contains the Rosebank Field, where a plethora of drilling issues, of enigmatic origin, are common within a key stratigraphic marker known as the Balder Formation. Drilling fluid loss, bit balling, wellbore breakouts and wellbore ‘ballooning’, where lost drilling fluid returns to the wellbore, are all recognized within the Balder Formation along the Corona Ridge. We find that many of the drilling incidents can be traced back to both the lithological character of the Balder Formation and the mid-Miocene tectonic inversion of the Corona Ridge. Moreover, we find that this geological explanation has wider implications for exploration in the region, including the mitigation of drilling incidents in future wells through drill-bit selection.

Supplementary material: A table detailing the drilling acronyms and terminology used in this study (adapted from Mark et al. 2018) is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4290602

  • © 2019 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London for GSL and EAGE. All rights reserved

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Raiders of the Lost Mud: the geology behind drilling incidents within the Balder Formation around the Corona Ridge, West of Shetland

Douglas Watson, Nick Schofield, Alistair Maguire, Christine Telford, Niall Mark, Stuart Archer and Jonathon Hardman
Petroleum Geoscience, 9 November 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-060
Douglas Watson
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
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  • ORCID record for Douglas Watson
Nick Schofield
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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  • ORCID record for Nick Schofield
  • For correspondence: n.schofield@abdn.ac.uk
Alistair Maguire
Schlumberger, Peregrine Road, Elrick, Westhill AB32 6TJ, UK
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  • ORCID record for Alistair Maguire
Christine Telford
CTC Geo Ltd, 176 Portland Road, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1DJ, UK
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Niall Mark
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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Stuart Archer
Mærsk Olie og Gas A/S, Amerika Plads 29, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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Jonathon Hardman
Department of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UKDepartment of Geology & Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building King's College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
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  • ORCID record for Jonathon Hardman

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Raiders of the Lost Mud: the geology behind drilling incidents within the Balder Formation around the Corona Ridge, West of Shetland

Douglas Watson, Nick Schofield, Alistair Maguire, Christine Telford, Niall Mark, Stuart Archer and Jonathon Hardman
Petroleum Geoscience, 9 November 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2018-060
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    • Abstract
    • Geological setting
    • Corona Ridge exploration history
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