scholarly journals Chemostratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Smackover Formation for Little Cedar Creek and Brooklyn Fields, Alabama

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rian Engle ◽  
Lance D. Yarbrough ◽  
Greg Easson
Keyword(s):  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Elemental Ratios ◽  
Cedar Creek ◽  
Smackover Formation ◽  
Carbonate Formation ◽  
Major Producer ◽  
Well Data ◽  
Paleozoic Rocks ◽  
Handheld Scanner

The Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian Age) Smackover Formation is a significant source for hydrocarbon production in southwest Alabama. Brooklyn Field is in southeast Conecuh County, Alabama and has been a major producer of oil and natural gas for the state. The Smackover is a carbonate formation that is divided into seven distinct lithofacies. In southwest Alabama, the Smackover Formation is heavily influenced by paleotopography from the underlying Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachian system. The goal of this study is to determine elemental ratios in rock core within the Smackover Formation using a X-ray fluorescence (XRF) handheld scanner, to correlate between lithofacies in the Smackover Formation and elementally characterize the upper oolitic grainstone reservoir and the lower thrombolite boundstone. Eight wells were used for the study within Brooklyn Field and Little Cedar Creek fields. Cores from the eight wells were scanned on six-inch intervals. Chemical logs were produced to show elemental weights in relation to depth and lithofacies. Well data collected for chemical signatures within producing zones were correlated to reservoir lithofacies and porosity. Aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron were the most significant (>95% confidence level) predictors of porosity and is related to the depositional environment and subsequent diageneses of the strata. XRF data suggests relative enrichments in iron, titanium, and potassium may be related to deposition in relatively restricted marine waters.

scholarly journals Chemostratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Smackover Formation for Little Cedar Creek and Brooklyn Fields, Alabama

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Yarbrough ◽  
Engle ◽  
Easson
Keyword(s):  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Elemental Ratios ◽  
Cedar Creek ◽  
Smackover Formation ◽  
Carbonate Formation ◽  
Chemical Signatures ◽  
Major Producer ◽  
Paleozoic Rocks ◽  
Handheld Scanner

The Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian Age) Smackover Formation is a significant source for hydrocarbon production in southwest Alabama. Brooklyn Field is in southeast Conecuh County, Alabama, and has been a major producer of oil and natural gas for the state. The Smackover is a carbonate formation that has been divided into seven distinct lithofacies in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. In southwest Alabama, the facies distribution in the Smackover Formation was influenced by paleotopography of the underlying Paleozoic rocks of the Appalachian system. The goal of this study is to determine elemental ratios in rock core within the Smackover Formation using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) handheld scanner and to correlate these elemental characteristics to the lithofacies of the Smackover Formation in the Brooklyn and Little Cedar Creek fields. Eight wells were used for the study within Brooklyn Field and Little Cedar Creek fields. Cores from the eight wells were scanned at six-inch intervals. Chemical logs were produced to show elemental weights in relation to depth and lithofacies. The chemical signatures within producing zones were correlated to reservoir lithofacies and porosity. Aluminum, silicon, calcium, titanium, and iron were the most significant (>95% confidence level) predictors of porosity and may be related to the depositional environment and subsequent diageneses of the producing facies. The XRF data suggests relative enrichments in iron, titanium, and potassium. These elements may be related to deposition in relatively restricted marine waters.

Jurassic raft tectonics in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. SM39-SM55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin S. Pilcher ◽  
Ryan T. Murphy ◽  
Jessica McDonough Ciosek
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Original Position ◽  
Smackover Formation ◽  
The North ◽  
Structural Style ◽  
Cotton Valley ◽  
Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico

The northeastern Gulf of Mexico is dominated by the 900–1800-m Florida Escarpment, which forms the bathymetric expression of the Cretaceous carbonate shelf edge. Outboard of the escarpment lies a region of salt-detached raft blocks, which are closely analogous to type examples in the Kwanza Basin, Angola, in terms of structural style, scale, and amount of extension. We undertook the first detailed structural interpretation of an emerging petroleum exploration province. The rafts detached and translated basinward by gravity gliding on the autochthonous Louann salt in the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous. The Upper Jurassic source rock (lime mudstones) of the Smackover Formation and eolian sandstone reservoir intervals of the Norphlet Formation are structurally segmented and entirely contained within the raft blocks. The rafts are separated by salt ridges and/or extensional fault gaps containing expanded uppermost Jurassic and lower Cretaceous strata of the Cotton Valley Group. The main episode of rafting occurred after deposition of the Smackover and Haynesville Formations and broke the Jurassic carbonate platform into raft blocks 2–40 km in length, which were then translated 25–40 km basinward from their original position. Map-view restoration of the raft blocks suggested a minimum extension of 100%, with basinward transport directions indicating a radial divergence of rafts. In the north of the study area, the transport direction was westerly, whereas in the south, translation was southerly. This pattern, which mimics the Florida Escarpment, suggested that the morphology of the Jurassic slope controlled the style of gravitational tectonics and the location of subsequent Cretaceous carbonate buildups. As with other linked systems on mobile substrates, the observed extension and translation must be balanced by downdip contraction. In the case of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, the contraction is largely cryptic, being accommodated by salt evacuation, compression of salt walls/stocks, and possibly open-toed canopy advance.

Sweet spot identification through seismic inversion and multiattribute transform: A case study of the Niobrara and Codell unconventionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. T887-T898
Author(s):  
Sheila Harryandi ◽  
Ali Tura
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Seismic Inversion ◽  
Sweet Spot ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Facies Model ◽  
Facies Classification ◽  
Tight Reservoir ◽  
Well Data ◽  
Prestack Seismic Inversion

The Niobrara and Codell unconventional tight reservoir play at the Wattenberg field, Colorado, has potentially two billion barrels of oil equivalent, requiring hundreds of wells to access this resource. Due to the formations’ high heterogeneity and variable thicknesses, we model the facies at the well-bore scale and upscale it to the seismic scale to guide the development strategy and evaluate future exploration targets. A facies classification from well data supervises the prestack seismic inversion and multiattribute transformation workflows to build a 3D facies model. The 3D facies model captures the reservoir heterogeneity throughout the study area and suggests the location of sweet spots for future hydraulic fracturing and refracturing. The term “sweet spot” refers to the parts of the rock formation that potentially have the highest hydrocarbon production. The significance of sweet spot identification includes improved recovery from the Niobrara, Codell, and potential deeper intervals for future exploration of drilling targets. Furthermore, sweet spot information also assists in keeping the well in formation, which is difficult to do without the seismic data. Keeping the well in formation is key for the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing operations and improved production.

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