Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Propose
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Geological Society, London, Memoirs
  • Geological Society of London Publications
    • Engineering Geology Special Publications
    • Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis
    • Journal of Micropalaeontology
    • Journal of the Geological Society
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Memoirs
    • Petroleum Geology Conference Series
    • Petroleum Geoscience
    • Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society
    • Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
    • Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
    • Scottish Journal of Geology
    • Special Publications
    • Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of Glasgow
    • Transactions of the Geological Society of London
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Follow gsl on Twitter
  • Visit gsl on Facebook
  • Visit gsl on Youtube
  • Visit gsl on Linkedin
Geological Society, London, Memoirs

Advanced search

  • Home
    • Series home
    • Lyell Collection home
    • Geological Society home
  • Content
    • Online First
    • Current volume
    • All volumes
    • Collections
    • Supplementary publications
    • Open Access
  • Subscribe
    • GSL fellows
    • Institutions
    • Corporate
    • Other member types
  • Info
    • Authors
    • Librarians
    • Readers
    • Access for GSL Fellows
    • Access for other member types
    • Press office
    • Accessibility
    • Help
  • Alert sign up
    • eTOC alerts
    • RSS feeds
    • Newsletters
    • GSL blog
  • Propose

Chapter 5 Play Fairway Analysis

Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 28, 51-69, 1 January 2001, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2003.028.01.05
PreviousNext
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Integrated structural and sequence stratigraphic analysis, such as that described in this Memoir (specifically Chapters 3 and 4), represents a powerful tool for analysing a petroleum system by identifying hydrocarbon plays and constraining the regional distribution of the key elements of a play. A play is a combination of reservoir, source and seal facies which, together with a trap, may lead to hydrocarbon accumulations at a specific stratigraphic level. The geographic area over which a play is thought to extend is known as the play fairway and is usually determined by the depositional and erosional limits of the reservoir. This need not always be the case, however; play fairways based on the regional extent of a hydrocarbon source rock system or particular structural style are equally valid.

Play fairway analysis is essentially an assessment of exploration risk at a basin scale. In the past the petroleum industry has applied the concept of risk mainly at a prospect-specific level. On a larger scale, applying risk analysis to the play fairway level in frontier basins permits channelling of exploration effort into the most prospective parts of a basin. Furthermore, by combining the risks for individual plays within a basin, different basins can be ranked, allowing exploration to be focussed towards particular basins. In more mature areas, the technique can highlight new plays in under-explored parts of the basin or, equally, provide an indication that the basin has very little remaining prospectivity and that it may be time to withdraw.

Figure 43 Illustrates an Idealised model of the main potential

  • The Geological Society of London 2003. All rights reserved.

Please note that if you are logged into the Lyell Collection and attempt to access content that is outside of your subscription entitlement you will be presented with a new login screen. You have the option to pay to view this content if you choose. Please see the relevant links below for further assistance.

INDIVIDUALS

Log in using your username and password

– GSL fellows: log in with your Lyell username and password. (Please check your access entitlements at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/fellowsaccess)
– Other users: log in with the username and password you created when you registered. Help for other users is at https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/lyellcollection_faqs
Forgot your username or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article for 24 hours and download the PDF within the access period. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one. To download the PDF, click the 'Purchased Content' link in the receipt email.

LIBRARY USERS

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.
If you think you should have access, please contact your librarian or email sales@geolsoc.org.uk

LIBRARIANS

Administer your subscription.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about the Lyell Collection publications website, please see the access help page or contact sales@geolsoc.org.uk

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this volume

Geological Society, London, Memoirs: 28 (1)
Geological Society, London, Memoirs
Volume 28
2001
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation tools

Chapter 5 Play Fairway Analysis

Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 28, 51-69, 1 January 2001, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2003.028.01.05

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Permissions
View PDF
Share

Chapter 5 Play Fairway Analysis

Geological Society, London, Memoirs, 28, 51-69, 1 January 2001, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2003.028.01.05
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Email to

Thank you for sharing this Geological Society, London, Memoirs article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Chapter 5 Play Fairway Analysis
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Geological Society, London, Memoirs
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Geological Society, London, Memoirs.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

Similar Articles

Cited By...

  • Most read
  • Most cited
Loading
  • Chapter 15 Construction of a Paleozoic–Mesozoic accretionary orogen along the active continental margin of SE Gondwana (South Island, New Zealand): summary and overview
  • UK oil and gas fields: an overview
  • Ring Complexes in the Younger Granite Province of Northern Nigeria
  • Chapter 1 Precambrian basins of India: stratigraphic and tectonic context
  • Chapter 1 Introduction and tectonic framework
More...

Memoirs

  • About the series
  • Books Editorial Committee
  • Submit a book proposal
  • Author information
  • Supplementary Publications
  • Subscribe
  • Pay per view
  • Alerts & RSS
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Activate Online Subscription
  • Feedback
  • Help

Lyell Collection

  • About the Lyell Collection
  • Lyell Collection homepage
  • Collections
  • Open Access Collection
  • Open Access Policy
  • Lyell Collection access help
  • Recommend to your Library
  • Lyell Collection Sponsors
  • MARC records
  • Digital preservation
  • Developing countries
  • Geofacets
  • Manage your account
  • Cookies

The Geological Society

  • About the Society
  • Join the Society
  • Benefits for Members
  • Online Bookshop
  • Publishing policies
  • Awards, Grants & Bursaries
  • Education & Careers
  • Events
  • Geoscientist Online
  • Library & Information Services
  • Policy & Media
  • Society blog
  • Contact the Society

Published by The Geological Society of London, registered charity number 210161

Print ISSN 
0435-4052
Online ISSN 
2041-4722

Copyright © 2021 Geological Society of London