The Alba Field ocean bottom cable seismic survey: Impact on development

Alba Field, in the Central North Sea (UK Block 16/26), consists of Eocene-age, high-porosity, unconsolidated turbidite channel sands sealed by low-permeability shales at an average subsea depth of 1900 m. The main channel is approximately 9 km long and 1.5 km wide and can be up to 100-m thick (Figure 1). The channel contains discrete bodies of intrareservoir shales that can cause significant drilling, completion, and production problems. Immediately overlying the main Alba sand channel, several wells have encountered thin, discontinuous, oil-saturated Brioc sands.