Abstract: Hydrocarbon Distribution for Different Order Segmentation of Gulf of Mexico

XUE, FANGJIAN
Schlumberger GeoQuest, Houston, TX;
JOEL S. WATKINS
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

From 1947 to 1993, about 39 billion BOE of hydrocarbon had been discovered within Miocene to Pleistocene sediments on US

Gulf of Mexico distributed in 2542 pools (or in 1114 fields). Statistics of pool sizes and related geological and engineering parameters show an obvious uneven distribution for different tectonic provinces, structural trends, salt-fault families and saltsheet corridors in offshore areas. The uneven distribution patterns of discovered hydrocarbons within the structural segments provide significant information on both potential and risk at regional, local and prospect scales. Segmentation also has an impact on hydrocarbon distribution in terms of ages and depositional facies. Our integrated research on structure, sedimentation and hydrocarbon reveals influences of structural segmentation and its associated depositional systems on hydrocarbon accumulation and suggests different factors effecting the complex petroleum system at different scales. Understanding the distribution of discovered hydrocarbon and their controlling factors for different order segmentation will improve the exploration and evaluation in both matured shelf and frontier slope in Gulf of Mexico.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90932©1998 GCAGS/GCS-SEPM Meeting, Corpus Christi, Texas