The Cane Creek shale of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation has produced more than 7.8 million barrels of oil and about 7.9 billion cubic feet of gas from 18 fields in the Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah. The Cane Creek is divided into three intervals—A, B, and C; the B interval is the primary oil producer. Finely crystalline dolomites and sandstones in the B interval have been the main targets of successful horizontal drilling programs. Hydrocarbon shows were recognized using nondestructive epifluorescence (EF) microscope techniques on samples from wells in the northern part of the basin. A new, qualitative visual EF rating system was developed and applied to these samples. A variety of EF ratings from each well were plotted and mapped. This 44-page Special Study provides (1) a summary of the new EF methods used in the study; (2) detailed petrographic and EF descriptions of Cane Creek samples for 31 wells (in three appendices); (3) 16 maps showing potential oil-prone areas for the entire Cane Creek and the A, B, and C intervals; and (4) a statistical analysis of the EF data. The study will help petroleum companies determine exploration strategies and land acquisition areas. It will also be a reference for government land management agencies, county planners, and local landowners in decision making processes and resource assessments.
Greater Aneth oil field, Utah’s largest oil producer, has produced over 483 million barrels of oil. Located in the Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah, Greater Aneth is a stratigraphic trap producing from the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation. Because Greater Aneth is a mature, major oil field in the western U.S., and has a large carbonate reservoir, it was selected to demonstrate combined enhanced oil recovery and carbon dioxide (CO2) storage. The Gothic shale seals the underlying Desert Creek oil reservoir, both in the Paradox Formation. Within the Aneth Unit in the northwestern part of the field, the Gothic is remarkably uniform, consisting of 7 to 26 feet (2–8 m) of black to gray, laminated to thin-bedded, dolomitic marine shale. This 31-page Miscellaneous Publication is a detailed evaluation of the Gothic seal in the Aneth Unit and its effectiveness at supporting large CO2 and hydrocarbon columns in the Desert Creek reservoir below. This study includes geochemical, petrological, petrophysical, and geomechanical analyses that determined (1) the geologic controls on sealing effeciency, (2) effects of pressure changes on the seal due to CO2 injection and storage, and (3) possible chemical interaction between CO2 and the seal at its contact with the reservoir through time.
This report describes low-cost, innovative, non-invasive, surface geochmcial techniques for hydrocarbon exploration in the environmentally sensitive northern Paradox Basin of southeastern Utah. Exploration for Mississippian Leadville Limestone-hosted hydrocarbon reservoirs in the basin is high risk in terms of cost and low in documented success rate. However, the potential for more discovers and additional reservoirs is enormous. The main conclusion of the study is that certain surface geochemical methods can discriminate surface signatures between buried productive and non-productive Leadville reservoirs. 61 pages + 6 appendices
The Mississippian Chainman Shale represents a potential target for untapped oil and gas resources in western Utah and eastern Nevada. This study focuses on the lithologic, facies, petrographic, petrophysical, and geochemical characteristics of a 500-meter-thick Chainman stratigraphic section exposed in the central Confusion Range of western Millard County, Utah. A hypothetical resources assessment, which can be used for the Chainman regionally, was conducted based on the surface samples' attributes from the study area. Hypothetical undiscovered hydrocarbons on 80-acre spacing are estimated at 270,000 barrels of oil and 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per well. This CD contains a full report (30 pages, 24 figures, 3 tables, and 5 appendices which include the measured section, plates of geophysical logs, thin section photomicrographs, SEM images, etc.), in PDF format, of the description, analyses, and results from the Chainman Shale outcrop study and resource assessment. It also includes X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and gamma-ray data and interpretations of the Chainman lithologies.
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