NS11-1 Parcel Prospectivity

Source Rocks and Maturity

According to the Play Fairway Study (OETR Association 2011), there is evidence for a Lower Jurassic oil prone source rock above the autochthonous salt basin along the western half of the margin. This conclusion is based on a number of observations including the analysis of oils found in several piston cores. Petroleum system modeling indicates that oil expulsion continues today along the southwestern Scotian Slope where the Lower Jurassic section is found at relatively shallow burial depths (compared to the Sable Subbasin region). As such, even young traps, like late Cenozoic strata that were folded above salt diapirs, could be viable plays. The reader is directed to the Play Fairway Study (OETR Association 2011) for a more detailed account of this interpretation.