A western thalweg of the Princeton Valley submarine canyon system as a reservoir and a trap near Willows, California
- Fleet Oil Co., Irvine, CA (USA)
The Princeton Valley submarine canyon system has long been an important reservoir and trapping mechanism in the northern Sacramento Valley, California. Recently a western thalweg of the system, identified north of Willows, California, has proven to be a significant trapping mechanism for gas in truncated Kione Formation sandstones. Both Upper Cretaceous Kione Formation and Paleocene Princeton Valley sandstones are exploratory objectives in the area and are productive in existing wells. The Kione Formation, a sand-rich deltaic sequence approximately 2,000 ft thick, has been truncated to the west by the Princeton Valley submarine canyon system. The canyon (gorge) has been subsequently filed with primarily impermeable shales, providing a trap for migrating gases in the truncated sands. The trend was discovered in 1977 by Shell Oil Company based on seismic and was the first substantiated evidence of a western thalweg of the Princeton Gorge in the Willows area. To date, four wells have been completed along the trend and current exploratory efforts are attempting to follow the gorge trend.
- OSTI ID:
- 6856786
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900605-; CODEN: AABUD
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Vol. 74:5; Conference: Annual convention and exposition of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, San Francisco, CA (USA), 3-6 Jun 1990; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
58 GEOSCIENCES
CALIFORNIA
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
RESERVOIR ROCK
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
PERMEABILITY
SANDSTONES
SHALES
TERTIARY PERIOD
CENOZOIC ERA
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
USA
030200* - Natural Gas- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
580000 - Geosciences