Abstract: Upper Almond and Lewis Reservoir Geometries, Southwestern Wyoming and Northwestern Colorado

Michael L. Hendricks

Upper Almond marine sandstones are major petroleum reservoirs in southwestern Wyoming. These sandstones were deposited as part of a transgressive systems tract which capped fluvial and coastal plain sediments of the upper Ericson and lower Almond formations.

Marine sandstone reservoirs were deposited in shoreface and tidal channel environments. Shoreface environments in the Echo Springs-Standard Draw trend are extensive and constitute major gas reserves in Carbon County. Shoreface and tidal channel deposits are major oil and gas reservoirs at Patrick Draw Field, Sweetwater County.

Major gas resources in upper Almond marine sandstones are yet to be exploited in the deeper portions of the Great Divide, Washakie, and Sand Wash basins. Tapping this basin centered gas resource will require careful reservoir modeling and fracture treatments that significantly increase permeability and reservoir flow.

Lewis sandstones are also petroleum reservoirs in the Great Divide, Washakie, and Sand Wash basins. The sandstones are part of the final Cretaceous regressive systems tract in southwestern Wyoming and northwestern Colorado. Well developed clinoforms accompany Lewis and Fox Hills progradation and basin fill. Associated with these progradational systems are correlative density flow and turbidite deposits that locally form reservoirs. These reservoirs commonly occur near the toe of prograding clinoforms and are trapped by rapid facies changes to impermeable siltstones and basinal shales. Detailed mapping of individual clinoforms indicates that a significant gas and oil resource is present in the deeper portions of the Great Divide, Washakie, and Sand Wash basins. As with basin centered Almond reservoirs, Lewis reservoir modeling and stimulation will be important for economic production.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90952©1996 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Billings, Montana