Petroleum system analysis of the Hammerfest Basin (southwestern Barents Sea): Comparison of basin modelling and geochemical data

Exploration in the Hammerfest Basin, southwestern Barents Sea, has proven several petroleum systems and plays with the presence of multiple source rocks of mainly Jurassic and Triassic age. To date several fields and discoveries have been found and are described to mainly contain gaseous hydrocarbons with the presence, in some cases, of an oil leg.Our 3D Hammerfest Basin model shows that the Jurassic Hekkingen Formation and the Triassic Snadd and Kobbe formations reached high maturity levels (gas window) in the western and the northwestern margin. At the same time, this model reproduces the main hydrocarbon accumulations that have been found in the basin. An analysis of the volumetrics and the proportion of oil and gas contributions to each field and discovery, suggests that the gas contribution stems mainly from Triassic source rocks, while the oil phases contain variable proportions from the Jurassic Hekkingen Formation and Triassic source rocks.Gas isotope and maturity related biomarker ratios confirm the maturity trends derived from the basin modelling results. Light hydrocarbons indicate the influence of secondary processes (biodegradation and long distance migration) in the petroleum from the Goliat field and the Tornerose discovery. Age related biomarker ratios such as the ETR (extended tricyclic terpane ratio) and the C₂₈/C₂₉ steranes ratio did not provide a clear separation when evaluating a contribution from Jurassic vs. Triassic source rocks.