--> Abstract: A Historical Look at World-wide Turbidite Production: The Importance of Stratigraphic Traps in Predicting Play Reserves, by H. S. Pettingill; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: A Historical Look at World-wide Turbidite Production: The Importance of Stratigraphic Traps in Predicting Play Reserves

PETTINGILL, HENRY S

A play's total volume potential is a key factor in determining whether to enter a new area. In turbidites, estimating play reserves is complicated by a historical dominance of stratigraphically trapped fields, which are often excluded from the initial prospect inventory because they are poorly defined. A global analysis of producing turbidite plays indicates that if the initial estimate is limited to structural traps, then the play's ultimate reserves are grossly underestimated. First production in turbidite plays usually comes from structures, but a majority of the reserves ultimately come from stratigraphic traps. Furthermore, most giant turbidite fields are partial stratigraphic traps. These observations are independent of basin setting. In the San Joaquin and Los Angeles basins, significant volumes come from giant stratigraphic traps: the Midway Sunset (2.75 billion bbl) and Huntington Beach (1.25 billion bbl) fields. The Campos and Gulf of Mexico basins established turbidite production from small structural traps, in both cases eclipsed later by giant stratigraphic discoveries such as Mars (750 million bbl) and Marlim/Albacora (combined 7 billion bbl). In the North Sea, after the giant structural Forties discovery, ultimate turbidite reserves for several distinct plays now reflect a dominance of stratigraphic traps.

This study demonstrates that a structural prospect inventory is grossly inadequate to estimate turbidite play reserves. The lessons may be applied not only to frontier turbidite provinces (e.g. Northwest Borneo), but also to basins where current turbidite production is limited to structural traps (e.g. Northwest Shelf of Australia).

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria