The Unconventional Petroleum Potential of the Gainsborough Trough, Onshore UK. A Petroleum Systems Modelling Approach

The Gainsborough Trough is a well-studied sedimentary basin located in the East Midlands, onshore UK. The basin comprises Carboniferous sequences which have been important targets for conventional resources since the 1920s. The successful exploitation of unconventional resources in the US has led to the exploration and appraisal of shale oil and gas resources within the UK. In the Gainsborough Trough, type II marine shales known as the Bowland Shale, were deposited during the Pendleian sub stage (late Mississippian). In this study, a detailed interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data allows the construction of a sophisticated 3D basin and petroleum systems model. The model is calibrated by structural and stratigraphic data from well, outcrop and seismic datasets. The output of the model is an estimate of in-place volumes of shale oil and gas resources and associated unconventional hydrocarbon sweet spot maps. A total of 18 billion barrels of oil and 25 Tcf of gas have been estimated within the Bowland Shale Formation in the Gainsborough Trough. Additionally, the prediction of primary vs secondary gas generation was also possible.