Structural geology and petroleum potential of Long Valley, White Pine County, Nevada

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Mountain Geologist; (USA)

OSTI ID:7221256

Pekarek, A H ^[1]

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1. Basin and Range Exploration Company, Englewood, CO (USA)

Sturctures in the Long Valley area result from three orogenies: the first in the middle of the Paleozoic, the second in the latter part of the Mesozoic, and the third in the second half of the Cenozoic. The first two orogenies were compressional, whereas the third was extensional. These three orogenies have produced a variety of structural traps for hydrocarbon accumulation. The complete Paleozoic section in the Long Valley area exceeds 30,000 ft. In the prospect area a minimum of 20,000 ft still has hydrocarbon potential. The Tertiary section is rarely thicker than 8000 ft and is commonly thinner than 3000 ft. Only five wells have been drilled in Long Valley. All five wells had shows of live oil indicating that hydrocarbons are present in the area. The primary petroleum source rock in east central Nevada is the Mississippian Chainman Shale that contains approximately 1,000 ft of organic-rich black shale and is among the best oil parts of the pre-Mississppian formations. Geochemical analyses show that viable source rocksas old as Cambrian are still capable of generating hydrocarbons. Log data show the presence of good sandstone reservoirs in the Chainman and very porous reservoirs in the carbonates of Pennsylvanian, Devonian, and Ordovician age. The carbonate have intergranular, fracture, and vuggy porosity. Permeabilities are quite high, resulting in high flow rates, commonly more than 1,000 BPD. Estimated reserves per 80 acres vary from 1,450,000 barrels in the Joana to more than 5,000,000 barrels in the Pogonip. The potential for large reserves in a field of modest areal extent is obvious.

• OSTI ID: 7221256
• Journal Information: Mountain Geologist; (USA), Journal Name: Mountain Geologist; (USA) Vol. 25:4; ISSN MOGEA; ISSN 0027-254X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
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CENOZOIC ERA
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