Exploring for hydrocarbons in a volcanic province: a review of exploration on the Faroese continental shelf

From the initial focus on deep water Paleocene stratigraphic/combined play types
chased in the Judd sub-basin, exploration effort in the Faroese area has changed its
attention to the sub-volcanic structural play types. Post-well analyses of the first Judd
sub-basin wells concluded that some of the amplitude driven plays drilled were caused
by poor lithology calibration, but an example of an amplitude anomaly in the Vaila Fm,
with well control, from the Judd sub-basin caused by gas, is presented.
This review will give a short summary of the technical advancements in seismic
imaging and drilling performance achieved over the last 5-10 year period and though
only a few wells has targeted sub-volcanic plays and their results largely remains confidential,
some outcomes have been released and some geological issues, which these
released results have raised, are qualitatively discussed as well as some speculations on
their impact on prospectivity seen in the light of both volcanic and non-volcanic analogues,
from other parts of the world.