Zahm, Laura C.¹, Beverly Blakeney DeJarnett¹ 
(1) The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, The Houston Research Center, Houston, TX

ABSTRACT: Dramatic Carbonate Reservoir Facies Illustrated in Cores from the Teaching Collection of the Bureau of Economic Geology

Many core collections are underused because of lack of publicity and geologic information about them, but data from these cores can dramatically affect reservoir production. The Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) is building a series of teaching cores that can be searched online by age, depositional environment, lithology, or geologic province. These “teaching cores” will show the range of facies within a key formation where all end-members can be examined during a short course or workshop. These cores enable geologists to quickly assess an interval without having to describe thousands of feet of core. This two-part poster session (see also DeJarnett and Zahm) showcases cores from BEG holdings, which include 1.7 million boxes of cores and cuttings representing one of the largest public core collections in the world. 

Three reservoirs are illustrated: (1) a Pennsylvanian icehouse climate reservoir from Sacroc field; (2) a Cretaceous greenhouse climate, reef margin reservoir from Stuart City reef trend; and (3) a Permian transitional climate, shallow carbonate reservoir from North Cowden field, Holt Unit. Each core shows dramatic facies changes in a relatively short interval, yet understanding the stratigraphy of these facies might be key for planning production strategies. The cores will be tied to seismic and log data to illustrate the importance of integrating core into reservoir management. Geologists will soon be able to quickly gain detailed knowledge about a reservoir interval by searching the BEG teaching collection to find a key core or core analog for the depositional setting or geologic province of interest. 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.