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The modern oil industry started 150 years ago in foreland fold and thrust belts (FTBs), targeting
surface-expressed anticlines associated with oil seeps. Today, FTBs at former convergent plate margins
are estimated to contain 14% of known and undiscovered global recoverable hydrocarbons, and 28% of
the world’s giant fields have been found in plate-convergent settings. These remaining reserves and the
promise of large accumulations, together with the under-explored status of large parts of most FTBs,
justifies further exploration, especially as advances in seismic imaging, structural modelling and
fracture characterisation are helping to mitigate the technical risks that held back FTB exploration in t
he second half of the 20th century. Among global hydrocarbon provinces, FTBs are the most complex
geological systems and technically challenging environments for exploration, and a comprehensively
prepared and well-executed exploration strategy is vital. In this context, analogs provide ideas
and models for plays in new areas, and actual examples to act as a reality check on the results
of modelling studies.
This extensive study provides summaries of the structure, stratigraphy and petroleum systems of the 33 foreland
FTBs that are shown on the map. Exploration in the reviewed FTBs has had levels of success varying from
the extraordinarily prolific Zagros Mountains province in Iran and Iraq to the subcommercial accumulations
of the Brooks Range-Arctic Foothills in Alaska, plus two FTBs without discoveries that are included for
comparison. The summaries are intended primarily to be used as analogs for exploration in similar FTBs
globally. In addition, they provide a valuable aid to rapid learning about a specific FTB, to more general
education about FTBs and their exploration, and as a database for statistical analysis and risking of FTB plays.
Each FTB summary is arranged in a standardised format for easy navigation through the text and for
straightforward comparison of FTBs. The essential data from each summary is tabulated and a list of
key references gives the data sources.
A synthesis of the FTB summaries compares and contrasts the primary features of foreland FTBs in terms of a
classification system, FTB petroleum systems and factors that FTBs well-endowed with hydrocarbons have
in common. Historical perspectives and present trends in FTB exploration and technology implementation
are presented. Tectonic fracturing, a critical factor for commercial productivity in many FTB reservoirs,
is discussed in detail. An overall table of FTB parameters allows easy comparison of the different elements,
covering general and exploration status, structure, source rocks, reservoirs, seals, traps, reserves,
plays and success factors. Details for 82 oil and gas fields in the studied FTBs were extracted from
C&C Reservoirs’ database of field analogs. They form a representative set of analogs for foreland FTB
fields and their collated data offers a valuable database of reservoir and production parameters.
The study will be available from Q1, 2008. It will be integrated seamlessly within the web-based DIGITAL
ANALOGS
Knowledge System (DAKS), which has been widely adopted by the industry as a premier source of
global field and reservoir analogs [view
outline]
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