Annual Report 2006
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Energy resources |
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Go-ahead for delimitation of the
continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean
In 2004, Denmark ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides opportunity for making claims to subsurface and seabed resources beyond 200 nautical miles. A requirement for any claim is that there is a natural prolongation of the land territory beyond 200 nautical miles, and GEUS has since been busy collecting and interpreting data from the five areas offshore Greenland and the Faroe Islands where there is potential for making claims. In 2006, work on a delimitation of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean commenced for real. In April/May, Danish and Canadian researchers worked together to collect refraction-seismic, sea-depth and gravity field data above the submarine Lomonosov Ridge. The Ridge stretches into the Polar Sea north of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, and, here, both Denmark and Canada can make claims for extension. The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and GEUS worked together on collecting the necessary data from this inhospitable area. All the expertise available was needed, as both weather and ice conditions were very unfavourable for the work on the sea ice. Despite relentless weather gods, the researchers succeeded in collecting sufficient data for setting up a seismic model of the subsurface, from the inner shelf near Greenland's coast and some distance into the Lomonosov Ridge. In 2006, GEUS also finished interpreting data from the area southwest of the Faroe Islands and carried out seismic data collection offshore South Greenland. The Continental Shelf Project is being funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation with contributions from the Faroese Home Rule Government, and is a collaboration project between GEUS and other institutions from Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. |
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New European initiatives
in CO2 storage
Reduction of atmospheric CO2 emissions is now a hot item on the political agenda. One way to reduce emissions is to store the greenhouse gases underground. In 2006, GEUS took part in a number of EU-funded international research projects to clarify the possibilities for geological storage of CO2. Researchers under the CO2SINK project have been busy with the final surveys of the geology at Ketzin near Berlin, where CO2 will be stored in the subsurface in 2007. Further more, in the ULCOS project, which is to develop methods for halv ing CO2 emissions from the steel industry in Europe, re search ers have worked to identify suitable locations for geological storage of greenhouse gas near four of the largest steel plants in the EU. Three new EU projects were launched in 2006. These are the DYNAMIS project, which is to pave the way for future European gas or coal-fired power plants that produce hydrogen and electricity without emitting CO2, and the GEUS-managed project GeoCapacity, which is to update and expand the basis for geological storage of greenhouse gas throughout Europe. Finally, the latest project, called COACH, is to transfer competences in geological storage of CO2 from the EU to China. Knowledge from the research projects is put into play in international fora where GEUS is represented. In connection with the EU's 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, GEUS is participating in the European Technology Platform on Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ETP ZEP), which advises the EU on content and strategy for research into CO2 matters. GEUS is also taking part in the technical work in the global Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum and represents the EU in a Task Force concerning standards for estimating CO2 storage capacity. |
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Successful licensing round
in Greenland
For many years, GEUS has been working to set up scientifically well-founded, oil-exploration models in order to attract investment from international industry to Greenland. In collaboration with the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, GEUS has moreover taken part in the development of exploration strategies and marketing of Greenland as a potential oil area. This work produced results in 2006 during the licensing round for the offshore area west of Disko-Nuussuaq in West Greenland. By the close of the licensing round in December, the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum had received applications from Exxon, Chevron, Husky and DONG. Prior to this successful licensing round, geologists from GEUS had worked intensively to interpret and analyse data from the area, in order to evaluate the exploration potential. This work included, in particular, interpretation of seismic and other geophysical data with a view to adjusting the structural models and analyses of source and reservoir rocks and oil seeps. GEUS then prepared a new structural model for the licence area and a GIS model with all relevant exploration data. The results of the work were presented at numerous meetings with oil companies during the spring and autumn of 2006. At the opening meeting of the licensing round in Ilulissat in June, no less than 12 international oil companies participated in the events spanning several days and including presentations and a field trip to Disko and Nuussuaq. |
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Hydrocarbon resources
in North Sea chalk
Denmark is pumping oil and gas from the North Sea worth billions, and hydrocarbons have secured the supply of energy to Danish society for many years. The hydrocarbons are present in the highly porous layers in the chalk, and geological knowledge from many years of exploration and extraction has led to continuous, new findings. In 2006, GEUS worked to improve our existing knowledge about the structure of the chalk in the Danish Central Graben, in order to identify new hydrocarbon-bearing layers in the chalk. Efforts included a revised lithostratigraphic division of the chalk into more than 90 exploration boreholes, as well as examinations of the regional distribution of the different chalk units, their extent and thickness. The purpose of the work is to localise the porous layers in the chalk which could have reservoir properties and to find evidence for possible hydrocarbons. |
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Possible gas/condensate
from deep sources
in the North Sea
Rising oil prices and the developments in drilling techniques have created increased interest in possible deep oil deposits generated by deeplying source rocks. For several years, GEUS has carried out research into the processes that generate oil and gas from different types of source rocks. During 2006, a study was completed of the possibilities for generating oil and gas from lower, carboniferous coal beds in the North Sea, which is a likely Paleozoic hydrocarbon source. The study included chemical and petrographic analyses of the deep coal beds in the Gert-2 well in the Danish Central Graben and a Norwegian well close by. The study shows that the coal beds are only able to generate gas/condensate, and this has something to do with the chemical structure of the original vegetation that formed the coal beds. In other words, gas/condensate can be expected, if one goes after plays with a deep Carbon source in the Central Graben. The thin coal beds in the Gert-2 well cannot generate hydrocarbons in financially viable quantities. However, if thicker carboniferous lower coal beds exist in a larger area, they could potentially be a source of gas/condensate in the Danish Central Graben and surrounding areas. |
