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Reservoir sedimentology of Mesaverde rocks at the Multiwell Experiment site and east central Piceance Creek Basin

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6736666

Three types of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs are encountered in Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Mesaverde Formation in the US Department of Energy's Multiwell Experiment (MWX) wells in the east-central Piceance Creek Basin, northwestern Colorado. Reservoir characteristics of each type of sandstone are a function of the environment in which it was deposited. Sandstone reservoirs deposited in a fluvial environment are composed of stacked point bar deposits, creating irregular, composite sand bodies. Underlying this, distributary channel reservoirs were deposited on a delta plain as elongate lenticular bodies. They are associated with mudstones on the upper delta plain (coastal) and with mudstones and coals on the lower delta plain (paludal). Below these deposits is a series of blanket sandstone reservoirs deposited as regressive, wave-dominated deltas and shorelines, interbedded with nonmarine coals and marine shales. Best estimates of reservoir morphology, dimensions, trends, and internal characteristics can be made on the basis of sedimentological models and characteristics observed in core and in outcrops near the well site. 21 refs., 17 figs.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
6736666
Report Number(s):
SAND-87-0040; ON: DE87007349
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English