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

Geological setting of North Slope oil fields, Alaska

Conference · · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6461505
The North Slope is a prolific hydrocarbon province in which discoveries to date amount to some 60 billion bbl of oil in place and 50 tcf of gas in place. Reservoirs and prolific source rocks occur throughout the stratigraphic column, which consists of a lower (or Ellesmerian) megasequence of Carboniferous to Jurassic age and an upper (or Brookian) megasequence of Early Cretaceous to Recent age. Discovered oil is almost equally divided between Ellesmerian and Brookian reservoirs. Patterns of hydrocarbon generation and migration have been controlled by deposition of clastic sedimentary wedges derived from the Brooks Range orogen. In the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, the main oil kitchen was located in the Western Colville trough. Clastic depocenters and associated kitchen areas migrated progressively eastward with time and are now located in the East Beaufort offshore. Important source rocks include the Jurassic Kingak and Late Triassic Shublik Formations of the Ellesmerian megasequence, and the Aptian-Cenomanian HRZ and Turonian-Paleocene Shale Wall formations of the Brookian megasequence.
Research Organization:
BP Alaska Exploration Inc., San Francisco, CA
OSTI ID:
6461505
Report Number(s):
CONF-8505215-
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 69:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

The Ellesmerian petroleum system - North Slope of Alaska
Conference · Thu Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) · OSTI ID:6007670
Investigation of source rock-crude oil relationships in North Slope hydrocarbon habitat
Conference · Sun Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5922260
Petroleum geochemistry of Alaskan North Slope - an update
Conference · Sun Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5924424

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALASKA
ALASKAN NORTH SLOPE
CRETACEOUS PERIOD
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION X
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGY
JURASSIC PERIOD
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESOURCES
STRATIGRAPHY
USA