Føroya Kolvetni (Faroe Petroleum) was awarded Licence 012, covering part of the Wyville
Thomson Ridge, in the second Faroese Licensing Round and this paper summarises some
initial results from their work programme. Interest in the prospectivity of the Wyville
Thomson Ridge was stimulated in the 1990s by a proposal that it forms a compressional
anticline with a thin carapace of Paleogene lavas, overlying an inverted sedimentary basin.
Gravity interpretation confirms that the ridge can be modelled as an inverted basin, although
uncertainties inherent in the method limit the accuracy of the thickness estimates. Seismic
reflection data shot in 2005 provide improved resolution of the pre-lava succession, with
some reflector packages resembling seismic facies from the prospective Paleocene succession
in the Faroe-Shetland Basin. The Rannvá exploration lead consists of an extremely large
four-way dip closure beneath thin lavas at the crest of the Wyville Thomson Ridge. Source
rock presence and maturity, hydrocarbon migration, and reservoir development in the Licence
012 area are discussed on the basis of regional observations
