Characterization of Lower Cretaceous Clastic Wedges in the Southwestern Barents Sea Using Seismic Attributes

Depositional environment and reservoir properties of the Lower Cretaceous clastic wedges in the southwestern Barents Sea are poorly understood due to very few well penetrations as it is not the main target for exploration. In general, few technical discoveries have been made until recently, where two main discoveries in the southern margin of the Loppa High were made bringing back attention to the Lower Cretaceous wedges. In general, these wedges have been previously interpreted as deep marine basin floor fans by some researchers and as shallow marine deposits by others. These interpretations were based on very limited core data, well logs and seismic available from the area. Seismic attributes are very helpful in the absence of core data which is the key to interpret depositional environments. The main objective of this study is to define seismic facies that can be correlated with geological facies and reservoir properties by looking at 2D and 3D seismic surveys and various seismic attributes. Preliminary observations of the seismic data give indications of transitional environments (e.g. deltaic, strand plain) to deep marine environments for the wedges which confirm both previous interpretations. The seismic facies can be correlated with previously interpreted depositional environments, thus reservoir properties.