Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Structurally controlled and aligned tight gas reservoir compartmentalization in the San Juan and Piceance Basins

Conference ·
OSTI ID:106786

Recurrent basement faulting is the primary controlling mechanism for aligning and compartmentalizing upper Cretaceous aged tight gas reservoirs of the San Juan and Piceance Basins. Northwest trending structural lineaments that formed in conjunction with the Uncompahgre Highlands have profoundly influenced sedimentation trends and created boundaries for gas migration; sealing and compartmentalizing sedimentary packages in both basins. Fractures which formed over the structural lineaments provide permeability pathways which allowing gas recovery from otherwise tight gas reservoirs. Structural alignments and associated reservoir compartments have been accurately targeted by integrating advanced remote sensing imagery, high resolution aeromagnetics, seismic interpretation, stratigraphic mapping and dynamic structural modelling. This unifying methodology is a powerful tool for exploration geologists and is also a systematic approach to tight gas resource assessment in frontier basins.

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:
FG03-93ER81502
OSTI ID:
106786
Report Number(s):
CONF-950572--; ON: DE95014457
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English