Facies control of Mississippian Porosity, Whitney Canyon-Carter Creek field, Wyoming Overthrust belt

Conference · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6132076

Bartberger, C E

Mississippian Mission Canyon carbonates are the most prolific Paleozoic reservoir in the Wyoming Overthrust belt. At Whitney Canyon-Carter Creek field, the Mission Canyon Formation holds recoverable reserves of 240 million bbl of oil equivalent. Production comes from a 350-ft (107 m) gross interval of shallow-water shelf carbonates. Capping the reservoir interval is a 300-ft (91 m) section of anhydrite and tight dolomite that represents sabkha deposits that prograded seaward (westward) over the shelf carbonates. Production from the shelf sequence comes exclusively from sucrosic dolomites that are interbedded with tight limestones and tight crystalline dolomites. A single complete sequence averages 40 ft (12 m) in thickness and grades upward from open-marine through restricted marine to intertidal and/or supratidal environments. Open-marine units are predominantly fossiliferous grainstones and packstones-rocks containing little or no carbonate mud. The overlying restricted-marine and intertidal and/or supratidal units are primarily mud-supported carbonates. Petrographic evidence indicates that carbonate mud was dolomitized preferentially relative to grains. The best reservoir-quality dolomite, therefore, usually occurs in the mud-rich, upper portions of the shallowing-upward sequences, and tight intervals separating the porous zones generally represent grain-supported, open-marine units. Such facies characteristically are continuous for great distances along depositional strike. At Whitney Canyon-Carter Creek field, individual porous zones can be correlated for more than 12 mi (19 km) across the field. This understanding of facies-controlled porosity development has application both in regional exploration and in field development.

• Research Organization: Amoco Production Co., Denver, CO
• OSTI ID: 6132076
• Report Number(s): CONF-8506201-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 69:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATE MINERALS
CARBONATES
DOLOMITE
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLORATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGY
LITHOLOGY
MAGNESIUM CARBONATES
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MINERALS
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
OIL FIELDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALEOZOIC ERA
PETROGRAPHY
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
POROSITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
STRATIGRAPHY
WESTERN US OVERTHRUST BELT