Integrated Borehole Image and Rotary Sidewall Core Characterisation of the Palaeocene-Eocene Deepwater Sele Formation, Capercaillie Field

Summary This study examines the value of combining high-resolution oil-based mud borehole imaging data with targeted rotary sidewall cores (RSWCs) to enhance geological characterisation of the deepwater Sele Formation, Capercaillie Field, Central North Sea Basin. While the wider region’s hydrocarbon systems and stratigraphy are well understood ( Eldrett et al. 2015 ), down-dip fields like Capercaillie contains smaller oil and gas accumulations with lower net-to-gross ratios and less resolved sandbodies. Such reservoirs present greater technical challenges, with average sandstone permeabilities of a few 10s mD. This work demonstrates that an integrated approach, combining petrographical and sedimentological data from various scales, can optimise data from image logs and sidewall cores, enabling cost-effective geological assessment in a mature basin.