HYDROCARBON GEOLOGY IN THE CIRCUM-ARCTIC DEEP BASINS AND THEIR EXPLORATION POTENTIAL

It is estimated that oil and gas resources may amount to 220 billion Bboe in the Circum-Arctic deep basins.But it is poor in exploration in general.There are many places with strategic significance for future oil and gas exploration and development.This paper selected the Barents Sea Basin,East Greenland Basin,Arctic Slope basin and Sverdrup basin from the circum-Arctic deep basins as cases to study their oil and gas potential.It is concluded that oil and gas are mainly accumulated in the Mesozoic.There are two main regional hydrocarbon source rocks,i.e.the Triassic shale,and the middle-upper Jurassic shale,and three local hydrocarbon source rocks,i.e.the upper Permian shale,lower Jurassic shale,and Cretaceous shale.The Permian,Triassic,Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones are major reservoirs.The Triassic,Jurassic and Cretaceous shales are good in quality as seals.It is suggested that this region is characterized by a marine source-reservoir-seal system formed in rifting stages with structural trap as a major type for oil and gas accumulation.