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Pressure and fluid dynamic characterisation of the Dutch subsurface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2014

J.M. Verweij ,
H.J. Simmelink ,
J. Underschultz  and
N. Witmans
J.M. Verweij*
Affiliation:
TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
H.J. Simmelink
Affiliation:
TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
J. Underschultz
Affiliation:
CSIRO, Bentley, Australia; now at Australian National Low Emissions Coal Research & Development, PO Box 536, Civic Square, ACT. 2608, Australia
N. Witmans
Affiliation:
TNO – Geological Survey of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
*
Email: hanneke.verweij@tno.nl.
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Abstract

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This paper presents and discusses the distribution of fluid and leak-off pressure data from the subsurface of onshore and offshore Netherlands in relation to causes of formation fluid overpressure and the permeability framework. The observed fluid pressure conditions demonstrate a clear regional difference between the southern and the north and north-eastern part of the study area. In the southern area, formation fluid pressures are close to normal and well below measured leak-off pressures. In the north, formation fluids are overpressured and may locally even approach the measured leak-off pressures. The regional differences in fluid overpressure can, in large part, be explained by differences in geologic framework and burial history. In the south, relatively low rates of sedimentary loading and the presence of relatively permeable sedimentary units have led to the currently observed normally pressured conditions. In the northern area, relatively rapid Neogene sediment loading plays an important role in explaining the observed overpressure distributions in Cenozoic mudstones, Cretaceous Chalk and Rijnland groups, and probably also in Jurassic units. The permeability framework of the northern and north-eastern area is significantly affected by Zechstein and Triassic salt deposits and structures. These units are characterised by very low permeability and severely restrict fluid flow and pressure dissipation. This has created hydraulically restricted compartments with high overpressures (for example overpressures exceeding 30 MPa in the Lower Germanic Trias Group in the Terschelling Basin and Dutch Central Graben).

Keywords

overpressuresleak-off pressuresfluid dynamicsthe NetherlandsDutch North Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 91 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 465 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2012

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