Petroleum geological activities in 1991: reassessment of earlier exploration, and improvement of information service to industry

Abstract

The shift of emphasis in the petroleum-geological activities of the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU) from East to West Greenland that was described in the Report of Activities 1990 was consolidated in 1991 in so far as onshore activity is concerned, as the main onshore field activity was in the Cretaceous-Tertiary outcrops in central West Greenland. Offshore West Greenland, reinterpretation of industry data from the 1970s was continued (see Chalmers, 1990). In May processing of the 5200 km seismic data acquired offshore West Greenland in 1990 was completed and interpretation of the data began, and in July two supplementary lines totalling 336 km were acquired offshore West Greenland using the KANUMAS project's vessel Thettis prior to its departure to North-East Greenland. Any geographical bias there may be towards West Greenland is however subsidiary and largely coincidental to the overall current emphasis in GGU's petroleum-geological activities, which is the reassessment of areas of earlier exploration with regard to coming licensing rounds in Greenland. In November 1991 the Mineral Resources Administration for Greenland (MRA) issued a press release in which the time-table for coming licensing rounds offshore West Greenland was outlined. The first of these rounds was announced formally in early April 1992, with the closing date for submission of applications 15 January 1993. The Jameson Land basin in East Greenland has been declared 'open acreage' , and interested companies are invited to contact MRA to discuss licensing terms. An exploration report on the Jameson Land basin specifically designed for management has been prepared by GGU and is now on sale.