A regional assessment of the intra-Carboniferous play of Northern England

Abstract

Abstract:Hydrocarbons have been produced from the Carboniferous of the East Midlands since the 1920s. Some 30 discoveries have been made to date and although field sizes are generally small, the relatively low costs have made exploration and development an attractive commercial proposition. Many of the factors which contribute to success in the East Midlands occur in other basins in Northern England but have not produced significant hydrocarbon accumulations. This paper examines the key attributes of the intra-Carboniferous play and through an integrated regional geological framework contrasts the successful East Midlands oil province with the other Carboniferous basins of Northern England.

Development and flow structures of sand injectites: The Hind Sandstone Member injectite complex, Carboniferous, UK

“…This and other syn-sedimentary slumps in the vicinity (Fig. 1) may be linked to growth/movement of the Sykes Anticline and WhitendaleeBrennand Pericline, which commenced prior to the Pendleian interval (Gawthorpe and Clemmey, 1985;Gawthorpe, 1987;Gawthorpe et al, 1989;Fraser et al, 1990). Slump induced fracture development (through extension of the substrate up-dip of the slump), and subsequent clastic injection, has been proposed in other locations by Hiscott (1979) and Rowe et al (2002).…”

Significance of sedimentary organic matter input for shale gas generation potential of Mississippian Mudstones, Widmerpool Gulf, UK

“…Specifically, the Upper Bowland Shale Formation and Edale Shale Group mudstones are believed to represent source rocks for conventional hydrocarbon finds in this region (e.g. Fraser et al, 1990;Smith et al, 2010); however, detailed studies determining the depositional controls of oil and gas producing intervals are lacking. The re-evaluation as shale gas reservoirs requires refined investigations of the distribution and composition of organic matter (OM) within these mudstone-dominated successions.…”

The control of basin evolution on patterns of sedimentation and diagenesis: an example from the Mississippian Great Orme, North Wales

“…Studies from the eastern flank of the Clwydian Range (Al-Fadel 1983) and adjacent highs (Derbyshire Platform and Askrigg Platform; Fraser et al 1990) suggest that burial of the Dinantian succession was to a depth of up to 2.5 km close to subsiding faults. Hendry et al (2014) discussed burial history in the Manx region, citing 800 ± 300 m of post-Carboniferous exhumation on the Isle of Man and eastern margin of the East Irish Sea Basin, based upon data published by Green et al (2012).…”