--> ABSTRACT: New Exploration Opportunities in the Williston Basin, by W. Richard Moore; #90906(2001)

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W. Richard Moore1

(1) Independent Geologist, Crawford, CO

ABSTRACT: New Exploration Opportunities in the Williston Basin

Major producing trends in the Williston Basin terminate for no apparent reason. Two examples include Mississippian and Ordovician oil fields. Almost 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil exists in Mississippian reservoirs in the Canadian portion of the basin, but as producing trends enter North Dakota, the number of fields decreases dramatically. Other examples are Ordovician fields on the west flank of the basin. Numerous oil fields in the Red River occur between the Canadian border and the Mondak field area along the North Dakota-Montana state line. Farther south, however, along the depositional trend of the Red River,very few of these types of fields occur.

To better understand what controls the producing trends, and therefore have a model that can be used to develop new trends, several data sets were collected and analyzed. These include Bouguer gravity, geothermal gradient, and surface linear patterns. Analysis of this data set shows a strong correlation between areas of hydrocarbon production, high geothermal gradient, high intensity of surface linears, and negative Bouguer gravity anomalies. It is believed that these areas reflect high fracture intensity in the basement and overlying sedimentary sequence, and that these fracture systems control trap formation and hydrocarbon migration.

Using these same data sets, a large area of over 3000 square miles in the southern Williston Basin can be shown to be highly prospective in several Paleozoic horizons. Significant production offsets the potential area and hydrocarbon shows exist in the few wells that have been drilled in the area.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado