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Exploration Implications of Previous HitOilNext Hit and Natural Previous HitGasNext Hit Seepage in Frontier Areas of the Louisiana-Texas Continental Slope, Northern Gulf of Mexico

Alan S. Kornacki, John W. Kendrick, John L. Berry

The occurrence, distribution, and chemistry of crude Previous HitoilNext Hit and natural Previous HitgasNext Hit seeps along the upper Louisiana continental slope have been used to help recognize and appraise the exploration potential of this frontier area. The presence of deepwater Previous HitoilNext Hit seeps was first established more than 25 years ago by the 'Eureka Program', a pioneering effort undertaken by Shell Previous HitOilNext Hit Company that involved drilling coreholes above shallow salt bodies. Subsurface Previous HitoilNext Hit seeps were encountered at seven deepwater locations. Three Eureka seeps in the Green Canyon lease area occur downdip of Previous HitoilNext Hit discoveries at Bullwinkle and Vancouver. Even more intriguing, a cluster of subsurface Previous HitoilNext Hit seeps was identified on the south Texas continental slope in the Alaminos Canyon 970-971 blocks, 155 miles southwest of the nearest significant offshore Previous HitoilNext Hit production (at the Snapper Field).

Previous HitOilNext Hit discoveries in water depths significantly >3000 ft have been reported only in the eastern Mississippi Canyon lease area. But Previous HitoilNext Hit and natural Previous HitgasNext Hit seepage is very common along the middle to lower Louisiana slope in the southern Garden Banks and north-eastern Keathley Canyon lease areas in water depths as great as 6000 ft, downdip of commercial petroleum discoveries at Auger, Bienville, and Cooper. These seeps demonstrate Previous HitoilNext Hit charge in a largely unexplored deepwater area off the coast of western Louisiana.

Other than proving regional charge, the presence of petroleum seeps near an untested deepwater prospect does not appear to materially aid in evaluating the likelihood that a commercial Previous HitoilNext Hit or Previous HitgasNext Hit accumulation exists in the subsurface. Prospect appraisal requires the performance of careful trap, seal, and reservoir analyses, plus an assessment of the vertical and lateral components of petroleum migration into the prospect.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91020©1995 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, May 5-8, 1995