Integrated fault seal analysis of the Hebron/Ben Nevis and Terra Nova oilfields, Jeanne d'Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland

The Hebron/Ben Nevis and Terra Nova oilfields, in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland are characterized by the presence of numerous faults that partially to completely offset reservoir units. The effect of these faults on geologic and production time scale fault seal behaviour was not previously well understood.; The fields were found to contain both sealing and non-sealing faults. The Shale Gouge Ratio (SGR) method was an accurate predictor of geologic time scale fault seal in two out of five cases at Hebron/Ben Nevis and three out of four cases at Terra Nova. Seismically mapped and sub-seismic faults are shown to act as boundaries to across-fault fluid flow on a production time scale in the Terra Nova Field, but do not appear to affect fluid flow in the Hebron/Ben Nevis Field. Seismic and core fault populations from the fields were modelled using power-law and exponential functions.