ABSTRACT: A Glimpse at the Suspected Oldest Commercial Reservoir in the Gulf Coast Province

TIEMAN, DAVID J., Murphy Exploration and Production Company, New Orleans, LA

This core presentation enables industry to view the majority of the productive section in the Murphy Adams #1, Texarkana West field, Bowie County, Texas. The field was discovered in July 1985 with the completion of the Murphy Sorsby #1, located 1,600 ft (488 m) to the northwest. The core is considered unique in that it contains, to the authors knowledge, the oldest commercial reservoir in the Gulf Coast producing region. Core porosities range from 9 to 18% and permeabilities, 1 to 906 md within the effective reservoir section. Calculated water saturations are difficult to assess due to the abundance of pyrite, but typically run 20 to 25% in those intervals where pyrite is visually less abundant. The Adams #1 potentialled for 245 bbls oil/day flowing on March 6, 1987 and has produced o er 225,000 bbls oil thru December, 1991.

The Texarkana West field is noteworthy in that it should be a reminder to the explorationist that there are still hydrocarbons to be found in unusual traps and unexpected parts of the stratigraphic section even in basins considered to be ultra-mature. Additional studies are planned to investigate in more detail relationships between the igneous units and the reservoir interval (the affects of associated mineralizing solutions on reservoir quality, tectonic implications, the influence of igneous events on hydrocarbon type, age dating confirmation, etc.).

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91014©1992 AAPG GCAGS and GC-SEPM Meeting, Jackson, Mississippi, October 21-23, 1992 (2009)