Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective
The beginning of the Norwegian oil industry is often attributed to the first exploration drilling in the North Sea in 1966, the first discovery in 1967 and the discovery of the supergiant Ekofisk field in 1969. However, petroleum exploration already started onshore Svalbard in 1960 with three mappin...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2648643 https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 |
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ftnorce:oai:norceresearch.brage.unit.no:11250/2648643 2023-05-15T17:08:31+02:00 Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective Senger, Kim Brugmans, Peter Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas Jochmann, Malte Michel Nøttvedt, Arvid Olaussen, Snorre Skotte, Asbjørn Smyrak-Sikora, Aleksandra 2019 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2648643 https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 228107 Norwegian Journal of Geology. 2019, 99 (3), 1-30. urn:issn:2387-5844 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2648643 https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 cristin:1718957 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Norwegian Journal of Geology 99 3 1-30 Peer reviewed Journal article 2019 ftnorce https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 2022-10-13T05:50:31Z The beginning of the Norwegian oil industry is often attributed to the first exploration drilling in the North Sea in 1966, the first discovery in 1967 and the discovery of the supergiant Ekofisk field in 1969. However, petroleum exploration already started onshore Svalbard in 1960 with three mapping groups from Caltex and exploration efforts by the Dutch company Bataaffse (Shell) and the Norwegian private company Norsk Polar Navigasjon AS (NPN). NPN was the first company to spud a well at Kvadehuken near Ny-Ålesund in 1961. This drilling marked the start of an exciting period of petroleum exploration in Svalbard, with eighteen exploration wells drilled in the period from 1961 to 1994. The deepest well so far, Caltex’s Ishøgda-I near Van Mijenfjorden, reached 3304 m in 1966. NPN was involved in nine of the eighteen wells. The remaining wells were drilled by American (Caltex/Amoseas), Belgian (Fina), French (Total), Soviet/Russian (Trust Arktikugol), Swedish (Polargas Prospektering) and Norwegian companies Norsk Hydro and Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani. None of the wells resulted in commercial discoveries, though several wells encountered gas in measureable quantities. Only the two wells drilled in the early 1990s were drilled on structures defined using a sparse 2D seismic grid, while the other wells were drilled based on geological mapping at the surface. Furthermore, more recent research and coal exploration boreholes have confirmed moveable hydrocarbons in close proximity to the Longyearbyen and Pyramiden settlements. In this contribution, we present a historical and brief geological overview of the petroleum exploration wells onshore Svalbard. We illustrate that the eighteen petroleum exploration wells have together penetrated over 29 km of stratigraphy, with the Late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic successions particularly well covered. Coal exploration and research boreholes primarily focus on the Mesozoic–Cenozoic successions. As such, the boreholes represent an important window to decipher the stratigraphic ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden Pyramiden Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden Spitsbergen NORCE vitenarkiv (Norwegian Research Centre) Ishøgda ENVELOPE(15.819,15.819,77.861,77.861) Kvadehuken ENVELOPE(11.418,11.418,78.961,78.961) Longyearbyen Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden ENVELOPE(-3.817,-3.817,-72.283,-72.283) Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden ENVELOPE(14.667,14.667,77.717,77.717) Norwegian Journal of Geology |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
NORCE vitenarkiv (Norwegian Research Centre) |
op_collection_id |
ftnorce |
language |
English |
description |
The beginning of the Norwegian oil industry is often attributed to the first exploration drilling in the North Sea in 1966, the first discovery in 1967 and the discovery of the supergiant Ekofisk field in 1969. However, petroleum exploration already started onshore Svalbard in 1960 with three mapping groups from Caltex and exploration efforts by the Dutch company Bataaffse (Shell) and the Norwegian private company Norsk Polar Navigasjon AS (NPN). NPN was the first company to spud a well at Kvadehuken near Ny-Ålesund in 1961. This drilling marked the start of an exciting period of petroleum exploration in Svalbard, with eighteen exploration wells drilled in the period from 1961 to 1994. The deepest well so far, Caltex’s Ishøgda-I near Van Mijenfjorden, reached 3304 m in 1966. NPN was involved in nine of the eighteen wells. The remaining wells were drilled by American (Caltex/Amoseas), Belgian (Fina), French (Total), Soviet/Russian (Trust Arktikugol), Swedish (Polargas Prospektering) and Norwegian companies Norsk Hydro and Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani. None of the wells resulted in commercial discoveries, though several wells encountered gas in measureable quantities. Only the two wells drilled in the early 1990s were drilled on structures defined using a sparse 2D seismic grid, while the other wells were drilled based on geological mapping at the surface. Furthermore, more recent research and coal exploration boreholes have confirmed moveable hydrocarbons in close proximity to the Longyearbyen and Pyramiden settlements. In this contribution, we present a historical and brief geological overview of the petroleum exploration wells onshore Svalbard. We illustrate that the eighteen petroleum exploration wells have together penetrated over 29 km of stratigraphy, with the Late Palaeozoic–Mesozoic successions particularly well covered. Coal exploration and research boreholes primarily focus on the Mesozoic–Cenozoic successions. As such, the boreholes represent an important window to decipher the stratigraphic ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Senger, Kim Brugmans, Peter Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas Jochmann, Malte Michel Nøttvedt, Arvid Olaussen, Snorre Skotte, Asbjørn Smyrak-Sikora, Aleksandra |
spellingShingle |
Senger, Kim Brugmans, Peter Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas Jochmann, Malte Michel Nøttvedt, Arvid Olaussen, Snorre Skotte, Asbjørn Smyrak-Sikora, Aleksandra Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
author_facet |
Senger, Kim Brugmans, Peter Grundvåg, Sten-Andreas Jochmann, Malte Michel Nøttvedt, Arvid Olaussen, Snorre Skotte, Asbjørn Smyrak-Sikora, Aleksandra |
author_sort |
Senger, Kim |
title |
Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
title_short |
Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
title_full |
Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
title_fullStr |
Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore Svalbard: a historical perspective |
title_sort |
petroleum, coal and research drilling onshore svalbard: a historical perspective |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2648643 https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(15.819,15.819,77.861,77.861) ENVELOPE(11.418,11.418,78.961,78.961) ENVELOPE(-3.817,-3.817,-72.283,-72.283) ENVELOPE(14.667,14.667,77.717,77.717) |
geographic |
Ishøgda Kvadehuken Longyearbyen Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden |
geographic_facet |
Ishøgda Kvadehuken Longyearbyen Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden |
genre |
Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden Pyramiden Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Pyramiden Pyramiden Svalbard Van Mijenfjorden Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Norwegian Journal of Geology 99 3 1-30 |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 228107 Norwegian Journal of Geology. 2019, 99 (3), 1-30. urn:issn:2387-5844 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2648643 https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 cristin:1718957 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17850/njg99-3-1 |
container_title |
Norwegian Journal of Geology |
_version_ |
1766064293815517184 |