Abstract The NE Atlantic volcanic rifted margins include vast underexplored basin areas neighbouring mature petroleum-producing regions. We appraise the cross-border prospectivity of the outer and central Faroe–Shetland, Møre and southern Vøring basins and present insights from extensive new 3D seismic surveys. Regional seismic surfaces are used to compile a cross-border seismic profile highlighting key discoveries from the UK Rosebank field in the SW to the Norwegian Ormen Lange field in the NE. Cretaceous to Paleocene reservoirs remain the main exploration focus seaward of the platform areas, and the presence of several large untested structures presents important exploration targets in the mid-Norway region. Improved imaging of the areas affected by Paleogene igneous rocks reveals major untested sub-basalt structures including some regions on the marginal highs where the basalt cover has been entirely removed by erosion, revealing sub-basalt stratigraphy and structures with pre-Cretaceous potential prospectivity. The influence of igneous rocks on both discovered and prospective hydrocarbon systems is discussed. Neogene sand injectite fields and Quaternary glacial sand bodies are extremely well imaged in the Møre Basin, documenting shallow prospectivity supported by the presence of successful regional analogue plays. New 3D seismic data are revealing previously unseen prospectivity in frontier and underexplored regions.

Abstract Onshore exposures of the North Atlantic Igneous Province have been studied in detail for over 200 years, whereas the more extensive offshore volcanic stratigraphy is significantly less well constrained with the exception of a small number of boreholes. Within this study we integrate seismic and well data across the northern Faroe–Shetland Basin and Møre Marginal High to improve understanding of the volcanic stratigraphy and its relationship to rifting in the NE Atlantic. Volcanic seismic facies, including compound and tabular lavas and hyaloclastites (representing subaerial and subaqueous emplacement), are interpreted across the study area, calibrated by the Lagavulin borehole. The volcanic sequence was erupted between c. 56.1 and 55.2 Ma, when subaerial conditions dominated in the region, but extensive lava deltas developed in a seaway east of the main lava field. Geochemical and thickness variations within the volcanic pile have important implications for the regional rifting history. MORB-like lavas at the base of Lagavulin, which thicken substantially northward, support an early onset of rifting near the Møre Marginal High prior to major thinning associated with continental breakup to the south and north. Following a period of erosion, smaller-degree melting caused the eruption of higher-TiO 2 /Zr lavas, marking the final ‘pre-breakup’ volcanism before emplacement of seaward-dipping reflectors.