Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous facies relationships in a passive margin basin, western North Atlantic

Conference · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1988 · AAPG Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5797406

Prather, B E

Correlation of facies from hydrocarbon-bearing continental and transitional marine sandstones to time-equivalent high-energy shelf-margin carbonates provide insight into hydrocarbon habitats of the Baltimore Canyon basin. These facies occur within a thick (> 10,000 ft) prograded wedge of shelf sediments in this passive margin basin. Wells drilled to test structural closures in shallow-water (< 600 ft) areas of Baltimore Canyon penetrate clastic facies which are time-equivalent to the downdip carbonate facies tested in deep-water wells. Numerous hydrocarbon shows, including a noncommercial gas and gas-condensate accumulation, occur with sandstone units that were deposited in prograding continental/fluvial and transitional marine environments located updip of the Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian carbonate shelf edge. The continental and transitional facies are overlain by a fine-grained deltaic complex which forms a regionally extensive top seal unit. The deltaic complex was deposited during aggradation of the Kimmeridgian through Berriasian shelf-margin carbonates penetrated by the deep-water wells. Deep-water wells (> 5000 ft) drilled off the continental shelf edge to test large structural closures along the downdip termination of the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous carbonate shelf edge encountered no significant hydrocarbon shows. Reservoir rocks in these wells consist of (1) oolite grainstone which was deposited within a shoal-water complex located at the Aptian shelf edge, and (2) coral-stromatoporoid grainstone and boundstone which formed an aggraded shelf-margin complex located at the Kimmeridgian through Berriasian shelf edge. Structural closures with reservoir and top seals are present in both updip and downdip trends. The absence of hydrocarbon shows in downdip carbonate reservoirs suggests a lack of source rocks available to charge objectives at the shelf margin.

• Research Organization: Shell Offshore Inc., New Orleans, LA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5797406
• Report Number(s): CONF-880301-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 72:2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
&amp; Exploration
ATLANTIC OCEAN
BALTIMORE CANYON
CARBONATE ROCKS
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
FOSSILS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MINERAL RESOURCES
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SOURCE ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS