Organic-rich source beds and hydrocarbon production in Gulf Coast region
Two models (I and II) are presented that relate the production of hydrocarbons in the Gulf Coast region to organic-rich source beds of ancient intraslope basins. Model I is empirical, based on present-day depositional environments like the anoxic Orca basin of the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Bannock basin of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Model I proposed that low oxygen levels in intraslope basins of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) have been a common mechanism for the accumulation of sediments with significantly increased amounts of marine organic carbon. In Model I progradation of the shelf-slope and regional salt tectonics control the occurrence and stratigraphic distribution of source beds throughout the Tertiary of the GOM. In turn, the maturation history of these organic-rich sediments is influenced by the high thermal conductivity of the underlying salt structures. Model II is statistical; it uses random number theory to suggest that the occurrence of organic-rich black muds in intraslope basins of the northwestern GOM had sufficient capacity to account for a dynamic range estimate of 30 to 500 billion bbl oil total and 30 to 300 bcf/million years per ephemeral basin of gas. These estimates, while approximate, clearly indicate the enormous hydrocarbon potential for generating oil and gas reserves in the Gulf Coast geosyncline. Such estimates underscore the need for a better understanding of intraslope basins of the northwestern GOM.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6024855
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8810362-
- Journal Information:
- AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States), Vol. 72:9; Conference: Gulf Coast Association of the Geological Society and Gulf Coast Section of SEPM meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, 19 Oct 1988
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
03 NATURAL GAS
GULF COAST
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
SOURCE ROCKS
MATURATION
SALT DEPOSITS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TERTIARY PERIOD
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
RESOURCES
USA
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
030200 - Natural Gas- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration