Analogs for
Deep-Water Reservoirs - Confined-Channel Complexes in Mesozoic and Cenozoic
Strata,
Campion, Kirt M.1, Anthony
Sprague1, Morgan D. Sullivan2 (1) ExxonMobil Upstream
Research Company, Houston, TX (2) Chevron Energy Technology Company,
Reservoirs within deep-water, slope
environments are a target of industry exploration and development. Along with
exploration, outcrop analogs have been sought to help understand and model
stratal architecture and lithofacies distribution within these deep-water
systems. Outcrops exist in Mesozoic and Cenozoic sections in
Outcrops used to document elements of the
channel hierarchy included the Capistrano Formation (Miocene) exposed in the
sea cliffs near San Clemente, the Scripps Formation (Eocene) exposed in the sea
cliff near La Jolla, and the Stony Creek Formation (Berriasian-Valanginian?) in
northern California. The Capistrano is a sand-dominated complex of channel
remnants that are about 15 m thick and 1.2 km wide and serve as a model for
seismically defined, single-cycle reservoirs. In contrast, the Scripps is about
100 m thick and 3 km wide, heterolithic and serves as a model for seismically
defined, multi-cycle reservoirs. The Stony Creek Formation is about 3 km thick,
dominated with mudstone but contains local conglomerate lenses that are up to
300 m thick and extend in a dip direction up to 35 km. Forward seismic models
of these outcrops indicate that the channel complex is the smallest element
resolved using conventional seismic data (25-35 hz peak frequency).
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California