ANNUAL REPORT 2001
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Energy resources |
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Preparing oil licensing round in West Greenland
In 2001, there was a high level of activity in connection with the preparation of the licensing round for the offshore areas between 63° and 68° N in West Greenland to be held in the spring/summer of 2002. West Greenland exploration opportunities were presented at several meetings and major conferences, on CD-ROM's, in newsletters and on the GHEXIS website. In addition, GEUS visited or received visits from over 25 international oil companies. The work involved in reassessing the geophysical and geological findings from the "dry" Qulleq-1 boring, performed in 2000 by the Statoil Group, was completed in 2001 and the findings were incorporated in the marketing of West Greenland. Furthermore, investigations of the Palaeogene sequence of strata in South West Greenland were completed with the creation of a sedimentation model which may be used to describe the distribution of potential reservoir rocks and seals. A new project was launched in the summer of 2001 with the objective of comparing oils and source rocks from West Greenland with selected samples from known oil fields in the eastern, central and arctic parts of Canada and the USA. In addition, a project was launched to compare the content of microfossils and thus the age of geological strata in the area between Greenland and Canada based on five Canadian and six West Greenland offshore borings. The new projects form part of the continued efforts to develop and market new exploration models. |
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Oil hiding in the North Sea
Oil in the North Sea chalk is not only - as previously presumed - hidden at the top of geological structures where chalk layers have been pushed up. As a result of the constant subsidence of the area, water is pressing very slowly through the chalk. This flow may move the oil to the flanks of pushed-up chalk structures to places where the presence of oil is normally not expected. In 2001, GEUS launched a project to clarify the effects of such processes. The work includes calculations of subsidence and compression of rocks and simultaneous water and oil flows in the chalk. The project is financed by the Energy Research Programme of the Danish Energy Authority. |
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Water and oil are not mixable
That is the general opinion. But GEUS is currently applying all its oil and hydrogeology experience to assess Denmark's oil and groundwater resources. About one third of Danish groundwater is extracted from limestone reservoirs, and Danish production of oil and gas is almost exclusively limestone-based. It is therefore important to obtain a better understanding of the storage and flow of oil and water in limestone. In 2001, GEUS completed an EU project where European universities, oil companies and Geological Surveys collaborated to study water and oil flow in fragmented limestone reservoirs. This work included the creation of a flow model for an oil field in Portugal based on a mapping of fractures and fault zones and their flow characteristics. |
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Geothermal energy and storage of CO2
Over the past year, GEUS worked on projects to increase the use of renewable energy and reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. In Greater Copenhagen, GEUS performed evaluations of six possible geothermal boring locations for the Metropolitan Geothermal Cooperation (HGS). On the basis of this, the geological base for the Margretheholm-1 boring in East Amager, Copenhagen, was prepared for expected implementation in 2002. GEUS' activities concerning geological CO2 storage cover many areas. The institution continues to participate in the international SACS research project to monitor and model the storage of one million tons of CO2/year under the Norwegian Sleipner gas field. Furthermore, GEUS is project manager of an EU project (GESTCO) investigating potential geological CO2 storage capacities in eight EU member states. In Denmark, a geological capacity to store more CO2 than Denmark's obligation under the Kyoto agreement was identified. GEUS collaborates with both electricity and oil companies in this area. Finally, GEUS participates in projects concerning CO2 storage in Great Britain and the Canadian Weyburn oil field where CO2 injection started during the year. GEUS collaborates with the EU on the development of future research programmes in this field and with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US Department of Energy on the development of CO2-free power plants for the future. |
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Increased security of oil and gas extraction
Accidents caused by geological conditions such as slides and mud streams on the seabed may have serious consequences for drilling equipment and sub sea installations and pipelines used in the exploration and extraction of offshore oil and gas. In connection with oil exploration in West Greenland and on the Faeroe Islands, GEUS assessed potential locations for natural offshore accidents. This includes the mapping of sea depths, sea bed gradients, the occurrence of soft and hard sea beds, channels, canyons, plough marks from icebergs and areas with a potentially unstable sea bed, occurrences of sedimentation from mass flows and bedforms indicating strong bottom currents. |
