A 3D structural analysis of the Goliat field, Barents Sea, Norway

The Goliat field consists of Middle to Late Triassic reservoirs which exploit an elongate anticline (the Goliat anticline) in the hanging wall of the Troms-Finnmark Fault Complex (TFFC), offshore Norway. The area is affected by a dense network of multiple trending fault populations which historically have inhibited seismic resolution owing to persistent fault shadow. Seismic investigations utilising a multi-azimuth three-dimensional survey (EN0901) allow much crisper delineation of seismic features previously unattainable by vintage single-azimuth surveys. Three dominant fault populations are identified in the area, two of which parallel TFFC segments, the Alke-Goliat (WSW-ENE) and the Goliat-Tornerose (NNE-SSW) segments. The Goliat field is located within a zone of intersection between both segments. A third E-W trending fault population, the Hammerfest Regional population, is likely influenced by the offshore extension of the Trollfjord-Komagelv Fault Complex (TKFZ). A local NW-SE trending fault population, the Goliat Central, affects the Goliat anticline and partitions Alke-Goliat and Goliat-Tornerose subsidiary faults resulting in curvilinear traces. Several cross-cutting relationships between fault populations are observed and may provide fluid compartmentalisation in the reservoirs. Compilation of regional transects and the EN0901 survey provides new insight into the evolution of the Goliat anticline which is underlain by a fault-bound basement terrace that became established in the Late Palaeozoic. The structure is interpreted to have formed due to vertical segmentation of the TFFC and cores the overlying broad anticline. The western limb of the Goliat anticline likely formed by differential compaction, whereas the eastern limb is primarily a result of hanging wall roll-over linked to variable listric to ramp-flat-ramp fault geometry. Rifting took place in the Palaeozoic (Carboniferous to Permian?), and in the Mesozoic, possibly as early as the Late Triassic, with a major event in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Minor reactivations continued into the Late Cretaceous, and possibly the Early Cenozoic. Mesozoic syn-kinematic geometries in the hanging wall of the Goliat-Tornerose TFFC segment are consistent with deposition during up section propagation of a blind fault, over which, a monocline was established and later breached. Jogs (abrupt orientation changes) in fault traces, transverse folds (associated with displacement maxima/minima) and vertical fault jogs suggest the TFFC existed as a greater number of segments prior to amalgamation during the Late Triassic to Jurassic. A phase of Barremian inversion created local compression structures above blind extensional faults, and deeper seated buttressing against large faults. Polygonal faults affect the Late Cretaceous to Early Cenozoic successions.