--> Surface Hydrocarbon Microseepage Detection by Microbial Survey of the Sorrento-Mt. Pearl Field Area, Cheyenne County, Colorado, by K. R. Sundberg, D. C. Hitzman, J. D. Tucker, B. A. Rountree, and D. O. Hitzman; #90986 (1994).

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Abstract: Surface Hydrocarbon Microseepage Detection by Microbial Survey of the Sorrento-Mt. Pearl Field Area, Cheyenne County, Colorado

Kenneth R. Sundberg, Daniel C. Hitzman, James D. Tucker, Brooks A. Rountree, Donald O. Hitzman

In 1983 and 1984, Phillips Petroleum Company conducted an extensive Microbial Oil Survey Technique (MOST) evaluation of the developing Morrow play in the Sorrento-Mt Pearl area of Eastern Colorado. The MOST data revealed hydrocarbon microseepage along the as yet undeveloped trend of the present Mt. Pearl Field. The data provide useful geochemical analogs to aid exploration and development in a subtle, stratigraphic play.

Approximately 400 sq mi of Cheyenne County, Colorado, were surveyed by reoccupying seismic lines and collecting roadside samples. Seepage in the area appears as a bloom of hydrocarbon indicating microbes in the near surface soils. The MOST method selectively measures microorganisms and produces population anomalies that are mapped as seep signatures. Such anomaly sites appear throughout the area, and, in particular, the Mt. Pearl area. Control studies over the already established Sorrento Field and other recently drilled wildcats in the area independently established the validity of the method.

The predictive value of the method is naturally enhanced in combination with modern geophysical methods. MOST will be of particular value in stratigraphic plays like the High Plains Morrow.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90986©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994