Gas-and water-saturated conditions in the Piceance Basin, Western Colorado: Implications for fractured reservoir detection in a gas-centered coal basin
Mesaverde Group reservoirs in the Piceance Basin, Western Colorado contain a large reservoir base. Attempts to exploit this resource base are stymied by low permeability reservoir conditions. The presence of abundant natural fracture systems throughout this basin, however, does permit economic production. Substantial production is associated with fractured reservoirs in Divide Creek, Piceance Creek, Wolf Creek, White River Dome, Plateau, Shire Gulch, Grand Valley, Parachute and Rulison fields. Successful Piceance Basin gas production requires detailed information about fracture networks and subsurface gas and water distribution in an overall gas-centered basin geometry. Assessment of these three parameters requires an integrated basin analysis incorporating conventional subsurface geology, seismic data, remote sensing imagery analysis, and an analysis of regional tectonics. To delineate the gas-centered basin geometry in the Piceance Basin, a regional cross-section spanning the basin was constructed using hydrocarbon and gamma radiation logs. The resultant hybrid logs were used for stratigraphic correlations in addition to outlining the trans-basin gas-saturated conditions. The magnitude of both pressure gradients (paludal and marine intervals) is greater than can be generated by a hydrodynamic model. To investigate the relationships between structure and production, detailed mapping of the basin (top of the Iles Formation) was used to define subtle subsurface structures that control fractured reservoir development. The most productive fields in the basin possess fractured reservoirs. Detailed studies in the Grand Valley-Parachute-Rulison and Shire Gulch-Plateau fields indicate that zones of maximum structural flexure on kilometer-scale structural features are directly related to areas of enhanced production.
- Research Organization:
- Alabama Univ., University, AL (United States); Gas Research Inst., Chicago, IL (United States); Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States); Mine Safety and Health Administration, Arlington, VA (United States); Alabama Geological Survey, University, AL (United States); USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC21-93MC30086
- OSTI ID:
- 106784
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950572--; ON: DE95014457
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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