U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2007-3077 

August 2007 Printed on recycled paper

Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the 

East Greenland Rift Basins Province

Introduction 

In 2007 the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) completed an assessment of 

the potential for undiscovered, technically recoverable (assuming the absence 

of sea ice) oil and gas resources in the 

East Greenland Rift Basins Province 

(fig. 1). Northeast Greenland has been 

selected as the prototype for the new 

U.S. Geological Survey Circum-Arctic 

Resource Appraisal (CARA) because the 

area shares important characteristics with 

many arctic basins, including sparse data, 

significant resource potential, great 

geological uncertainty, 

and significant 

technical barriers 

to exploration 

and development. This 

study, 

which 

Northeast Greenland is the prototype 

for the U.S. Geological Survey’s 

Circum-Arctic Oil and Gas Resource 

Appraisal. Using a geology-based 

methodology, the USGS estimates 

the mean undiscovered, conventional 

petroleum resources in the province 

to be approximately 31,400 MMBOE 

(million barrels of oil equivalent) of 

oil, gas, and natural gas liquids. 

supersedes a previous 

USGS assessment of 

the same area completed in 2000, was 

necessary because of 

new information made 

available through 

collaboration with the 

Geological Survey of 

Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), which 

significantly changes 

the geological understanding of the area. 

As defined for 

CARA, the province 

includes an area 

of approximately 

500,000 square kilometers, most of 

which underlies less than 500 meters 

of water offshore east of Greenland 

between 70o and 82o North. 

Assessment Units

 In collaboration with GEUS, the 

East Greenland Rift Basins Province 

was subdivided into seven geologically 

distinctive Assessment Units (AU), of 

which five were quantitatively assessed 

(fig. 1). These are: North Danmarkshavn 

Salt Basin, South Danmarkshavn Basin, 

Thetis Basin, Northeast Greenland 

Volcanic Province, and Liverpool Land 

Basin. Jameson Land Basin and the 

Jameson Land Basin Subvolcanic Extension were defined as AUs but were not 

quantitatively assessed. 

Petroleum System Elements

Onshore studies by GEUS and 

other organizations suggest that at least 

four stratigraphic intervals may contain 

potentially good source rocks for liquid 

petroleum. On the basis of considerations of the geological history of related 

areas in western Norway and burial history modeling, Upper Jurassic strata are 

believed to contain particularly promising petroleum source rocks. Possible 

trapping mechanisms are expected to 

vary widely across the province. Potential traps in the North Danmarkshavn 

Salt Basin AU are dominated by structures formed through salt tectonics; those 

in the Southern Danmarkshavn Basin 

and the Northeast Greenland Volcanic 

Province probably are characterized 

by extensional structures and by stratigraphic traps in submarine fan complexes. Prospective inversion structures 

of Tertiary age are present along the 

western margin of South Danmarkshavn 

Basin AU, and the large horst block 

structures, which separate the Danmarkshavn and Thetis Basins, may provide 

numerous opportunities for traps in 

fault blocks, along a major 

unconformity 
and in various facies-related permeability barriers. Possible reservoirs are 

considered most likely within shallow 

marine to nonmarine sandstones of 

Middle Jurassic age, in Upper Jurassic 

synrift deposits, in Cretaceous sandstones in submarine fan complexes, 

within progradational sequences of 

Paleogene age, and in Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian warm-water 

carbonate sequences, especially in 

northern Danmarkshavn Basin. Marine 

shales are expected to provide the main 

sealing lithologies in most AUs. 

Resource Summary

Most of the undiscovered oil, gas, 

and natural gas liquids is likely in the 

offshore parts of the province and is 

inferred to belong to an Upper Jurassic Composite Total Petroleum System. 

The resource estimates for the East 

Greenland Rift Basins Province and for 

the various AUs are tabulated in table 1.

The USGS estimates that the East 

Greenland Rift Basins Province contains 

approximately (mean) 31,400 MMBOE 

of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.

Of the five assessed AUs, North 

Danmarkshavn Salt Basin and the South 

Danmarkshavn Basin are estimated to 

contain the most of the undiscovered 

petroleum resources. 

North Danmarkshavn Salt Basin

South Danmarkshavn Basin Thetis Basin

Northeast Greenland Volcanic Province

Jameson Land Basin

Liverpool Land Basin

Jameson Land Basin Subvolcanic Extension

East Greenland Rift Basins

Arctic Circle

West GreenlandEast Canada

Province

75°0'0"W 70°0'0"W 65°0'0"W 60°0'0"W 50°0'0"W

45°0'0"W 40°0'0"W

40°0'0"W

35°0'0"W 30°0'0"W

30°0'0"W

25°0'0"W 20°0'0"W

20°0'0"W

15°0'0"W

10°0'0"W

10°0'0"W 5°0'0"W

0°0'0"

0°0'0"

5°0'0"E

5°0'0"E

15°0'0"E 20°0'0"E 25°0'0"E 30°0'0"E 35°0'0"E

65°0'0"N

65°0'0"N

70°0'0"N

70°0'0"N

Figure 1. East Greenland Rift Basins.

Clarke_1866_Stereographic_North_Pole

Stereographic_North_Pole

False_Easting: 0.000000

False_Northing: 0.000000

Central_Meridian: 130.000000

Standard_Parallel_1: 75.000000

Assessed Arctic Province Boundary and Code

Arctic Assessment Unit Name and Code

Water depth (meters)

-1000

-500

-100

Oil and gas field (IHS-2006)

COMMODITY

Gas

N

Oil

0 300 Kilometers

EXPLANATION Wegener Halvø (seen from southeast to the northwest): 

Devonian below unconformity, Permian carbonate 

build-ups overlain by Ravnefjeld formation source 

rock and Wordie Creek formation mudstones.

Photograph by Stefan Piasecki (GEUS).
For Further Information

Assessment results are available online at: 

http://energy.usgs.gov/arctic/ 

or contact Donald L. Gautier, the Task 

Leader for the Circum-Arctic Resource 

Appraisal (gautier@usgs.gov).

East Greenland Rift Basins Province 

Assessment Team: Donald L. Gautier, 

Kenneth J. Bird, Ronald R. Charpentier, 

David Houseknecht, Timothy R. Klett, 

Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson

Acknowledgment 

While the resource estimates reported here 

are the product and responsibility of the 

U.S. Geological Survey, the geological 

analysis of northeastern Greenland used 

for this study was completed in collaboration with GEUS, the Geological Survey of 

Denmark and Greenland.

Total Petroleum Systems 

(TPS)

and Assessment Units (AU)

AU

Probability

Field

Type

Total Undiscovered Resources

Oil (MMBO) Gas (BCFG) NGL (MMBNGL)

F95 F50 F5 Mean F95 F50 F5 Mean F95 F50 F5 Mean

North Danmarkshavn 

Salt Basin AU 0.65

Oil 0 1,989 11,793 3,274 0 3,827 26,779 7,255 0 264 2,123 570

Gas 0 23,820 107,409 32,756 0 2,284 10,730 3,237

South Danmarkshavn 

Basin AU 0.72

Oil 0 3,228 13,996 4,384 0 6,325 32,081 9,700 0 449 2,603 761

Gas 0 19,344 83,621 26,251 0 1,844 8,362 2,598

Northeast Greenland Volcanic 

Province AU 0.26

Oil 0 0 2,757 497 0 0 6,212 1,105 0 0 492 87

Gas 0 0 16,551 3,003 0 0 1,651 297

Thetis Basin AU 0.49

Oil 0 0 2,095 537 0 0 4,908 1,184 0 0 397 93

Gas 0 0 12,489 3,206 0 0 1,251 317

Liverpool Land Basin AU 0.29

Oil 0 0 1,122 209 0 0 2,528 464 0 0 200 37

Gas 0 0 6,740 1,255 0 0 672 124

Jameson Land Basin AU 0.07

Oil

Gas

Jameson Land Basin 

Subvolcanic Extension AU 0.04

Oil

Gas

Total Conventional

 Resources 8,901 86,179 8,121

East Greenland Riff Basin results.indd

[MMBO, million barrels of oil. BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas. MMBNGL, million barrels of natural gas liquids. Results shown are fully risked estimates. For gas 

accumulations, all liquids are included as NGL (natural gas liquids). F95 represents a 95-percent chance of at least the amount tabulated; other fractiles are 

defined similarly. Fractiles are additive under the assumption of perfect positive correlation. TPS, total petroleum system; AU, assessment unit. Gray shading 

indicates not applicable]

Table 1. East Greenland Rift Basins Province assessment results.

Not quantitatively assessed

Not quantitatively assessed

Katedralen/Ugleelv in Jameson Land: Jurassic succession with Sortehat formation,

Pelion formation (reservoir sandstone), Fossilbjerg formation, and Hareelv formation

(source rock). Photograph by Stefan Piasecki (GEUS).