Subsurface petroleum geology of Santa Rosa Sandstone (Triassic), northeast New Mexico

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5927615

Broadhead, R F

The Santa Rose Sandstone (Triassic) occurs at depths of less than 2000 ft over most of northeast New Mexico. Although the Santa Rosa Sandstone is currently not producing, two major petroleum accumulations are known to exist in it. One accumulation is located approximately 6 miles north of Santa Rosa, where oil-impregnated Santa Rosa Sandstone crops out; these outcrops of oil-impregnated sandstone are known as the Santa Rosa tar sands. The oil in the tar sands is viscous and heavy. The Santa Rosa tar sands were mined in the 1930's for road-surfacing material, but presently are not being worked. The other known petroleum accumulation in the Santa Rosa Sandstone is a pool of heavy oil that occurs at depths of 400 to 800 ft in northeast Guadalupe County. Attempts are being made to recover the heavy oil with steamflooding in two small pilot fields, the O'Connell Ranch field and the T-4 Ranch field. Stratigraphic and petrographic studies indicate that good reservoirs are widespread in the lower and upper sandstone units in northeast New Mexico. The blanket geometry of the lower and upper sandstone units indicates that structure probably plays an important or even dominant role in the trapping of any undiscovered hydrocarbons in the Santa Rosa. Oil proximal to the outcrop belt of the Santa Rosa Sandstone has probably been flushed by recently recharged, fresh ground water. Although the source of the oil in Santa Rosa Sandstone is not definitely known, geochemical studies point to the San Andres Formation (Permian) or possibly Pennsylvanian rocks. 38 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5927615
• Report Number(s): NP-5901364; ON: TI85901364
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040201* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Site Geology-- (-1989)
DATA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FEDERAL REGION VI
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
INFORMATION
MESOZOIC ERA
NEW MEXICO
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OIL SAND DEPOSITS
PETROGRAPHY
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRATIGRAPHY
TRIASSIC PERIOD
USA