--> Abstract: USGS Assessment of Undiscovered, Technically Recoverable Oil and Natural Gas Resources of the Lower Paleogene Midway and Wilcox Groups, and Carrizo Sand, Claiborne Group, Onshore Gulf of Mexico Basin, U.S.A, by Peter D. Warwick; #90078 (2008)

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USGS Assessment of Undiscovered, Technically Recoverable Oil and Natural Gas Resources of the Lower Paleogene Midway and Wilcox Groups, and Carrizo Sand, Claiborne Group, Onshore Gulf of Mexico Basin, U.S.A

Peter D. Warwick
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently conducted an assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas potential of Tertiary strata underlying the onshore areas and State waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal region. The assessment was based on a number geologic elements including an evaluation of hydrocarbon source rocks, the availability of suitable reservoir rocks, and the presence of hydrocarbon traps in an Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary Composite Total Petroleum System (TPS) defined for the region by the USGS. Five assessment units (AUs) were defined for the Midway (Paleocene) and Wilcox (Paleocene-Eocene) Groups, and the Carrizo Sand of the Claiborne Group (Eocene) interval: (1) the Wilcox Stable Shelf Oil and Gas AU; (2) the Wilcox Expanded Fault Zone Gas and Oil AU; the (3) Wilcox Slope and Basin Floor Gas AU; (4) the Wilcox-Lobo Slide Block Gas AU; and (5) the Wilcox Mississippi Embayment AU (not quantitatively assessed).

The USGS assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources for the Midway-Wilcox-Carrizo interval resulted in estimated mean values of 110 million barrels of oil, 36.9 trillion cubic feet of gas, and 639 million barrels of natural gas liquids (NGL) in the four assessed units. The undiscovered oil resources are almost evenly divided between fluvial-deltaic sandstone reservoirs within the Wilcox Stable Shelf (54 MMBO) and deltaic sandstone reservoirs of the Expanded Fault Zone (52 MMBO) AUs. Greater than 70 percent of the undiscovered gas and 66 percent of the NGL are estimated to be in deep (13,000 to 30,000 ft), unexplored distal deltaic and slope sandstone reservoirs within the Wilcox Slope and Basin Floor Gas AU.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90078©2008 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas