How to make a billion-barrel oil field in offshore California commercial

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6127400

Patterson, J C; Ballard, J H

The major obstacles and challenges involved in exploration and development of a giant deep-water low-gravity oil field are exemplified in the undeveloped Sword field of offshore southern California. In 1979, Conoco Exploration identified a northeast-southwest-trending basement high in the 800 to 2,000-ft deep federal waters 12 mi southwest of Pt. Conception at the western end of the Santa Barbara Channel. The intended reservoir was fractured Miocene Monterey chert, silicic shales/siltstones,m and dolomites that are draped over the axially faulted structure. Drilling of the initial well in OCS P-0322 in 1982 resulted in discovering the giant Sword field. A confirmation well drilled in OCS P-0320 indicates in-place reserves of well over 1 billion bbl. while the discovered potential is significant, the low gravity (8.5/sup 0/-10.5/sup 0/ API) of the oils discovered to data, along with water depths in excess of 1,500 ft, currently pose economic challenges to successful field development.

• OSTI ID: 6127400
• Report Number(s): CONF-880301-
• Resource Relation: Conference: Annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston, TX, USA, 20-23 Mar 1988
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
02 PETROLEUM
42 ENGINEERING
CALIFORNIA
OIL FIELDS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
ENHANCED RECOVERY
COMMERCIALIZATION
OFFSHORE DRILLING
SEISMIC SURVEYS
WELL STIMULATION
DRILLING
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RECOVERY
RESOURCES
STIMULATION
SURVEYS
USA
040401* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
020200 - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
423000 - Engineering- Marine Engineering- (1980-)