Geological risk mapping and prospect evaluation using multivariate and Bayesian statistical methods, western Sverdrup Basin of Canada

The current practice of geological risk evaluation at the play level involves substantial subjectivity and rarely considers the spatial correlations among the identified prospects. A quantitative procedure using multivariate and Bayesian statistical methods is proposed, which treats exploration-risk evaluation as a two-group classification, to provide a more objective and reproducible result. The spatial correlation among the identified prospects is considered because the proposed approach is applied to the entire evaluation area. The exploration-risk evaluation of the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic Heiberg Group structural gas play in western Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Canada, illustrates the method.