The Sea of Hebrides Basin and Minch Basin are late Paleozoic–Mesozoic rift basins located to the NW of the Scottish mainland. The basins were the target of small-scale petroleum exploration from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, with a total of three wells drilled within the two basins between 1989 and 1991. Although no commercially viable petroleum discoveries were made, numerous petroleum shows were identified within both basins, including a gas show within the Upper Glen 1 well in Lower Jurassic limestones. Organic-rich shales have been identified throughout the Jurassic succession within the Sea of Hebrides Basin, with one Middle Jurassic (Bajocian–Bathonian) shale exhibiting a total organic carbon content of up to 15 wt%. The focus of this study is to review the historical petroleum exploration within these basins, and to evaluate whether the conclusions drawn in the early 1990s of a lack of prospectivity remains the case. This was undertaken by analysis of seismic reflection data, gravity and aeromagnetic data, and sedimentological data from both onshore and offshore wells, boreholes and previously published studies. The key findings from our study suggest that there is a low probability of commercially sized petroleum accumulations within either the Sea of Hebrides Basin or the Minch Basin. Ineffective source rocks, likely to be due to low maturities (due to lack of burial) and the fact that the encountered Jurassic and Permian–Triassic reservoirs are of poor quality (low porosity and permeability), has led to our interpretation of future exploration being high risk, with any potential accumulations being small in size. While petroleum accumulations are unlikely within the basin, applying the knowledge obtained from this study could provide additional datasets and insight into petroleum exploration within other NE Atlantic margin basins, such as the Rockall Trough and the Faroe–Shetland Basin.

赫布里底海盆地和明奇盆地是位于苏格兰大陆西北的晚古生代-中生代裂谷盆地。这些盆地是 1960 年代末至 1990 年代初小规模石油勘探的目标，1989 至 1991 年期间在两个盆地内共钻探了 3 口井。 虽然没有取得商业上可行的石油发现，但发现了许多石油显示在两个盆地内，包括在下侏罗统石灰岩中的 Upper Glen 1 井内的天然气显示。在赫布里底海盆地的整个侏罗纪序列中都发现了富含有机质的页岩，其中一个中侏罗纪（巴约阶-巴松阶）页岩的总有机碳含量高达 15%。本研究的重点是回顾这些盆地内的历史石油勘探，并评估 1990 年代初期得出的缺乏前景的结论是否仍然如此。这是通过分析地震反射数据、重力和航磁数据以及陆上和海上井、钻孔和先前发表的研究的沉积学数据来进行的。我们研究的主要发现表明，无论是在赫布里底海盆地还是在明奇盆地，商业规模的石油聚集的可能性都很低。无效烃源岩，可能是由于低成熟度（由于缺乏埋藏）以及遇到的侏罗纪和二叠纪-三叠纪储层质量差（孔隙度和渗透率低）导致我们对未来勘探的解释是高风险，任何潜在的积累规模都很小。