Integrated 3D Seismic, Core, and Well Log Study

of an Upper Pleistocene Submarine Fan Reservoir

in the Garden Banks Area, Northern Gulf of Mexico

Sean O’Brien, M. Royhan Gani, and Abu K. M. Sarwar

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New Orleans,

2000 Lakeshore Dr., New Orleans, Louisiana  70148

ABSTRACT

The Upper Pleistocene slope-apron to submarine fan deposits in the northern Gulf of Mexico have proven to be valuable targets for hydrocarbon exploration and production.  The Field 236 of the Garden Banks area, located 170 mi (273 km) southwest of Lafayette, Louisiana, has producing wells in these deep marine sandstones.  Although this field has been in production since the late seventies, there are no published data on the specific depositional setting of the reservoir sandstone.

Encompassing six blocks of Field 236 with an area of 54 mi² (140 km²), this study used a combination of proprietary and public-domain data, including 3D seismic data, wireline logs, velocity surveys, and side-wall cores.  Isopach and seismic amplitude maps reveal that the reservoir rock of this field is part of a submarine channel-lobe complex where individual paleogeomorphic units like meandering channel, crevasse splay, and lobe are identifiable.  The deposition took place in an east-west trending and east-sloping minibasin, the formation of which is likely linked to deformations related to salt bodies surrounding the area.  This study also identifies a potential exploration/drilling target to the northeast of the study area in block 193.

O’Brien, S., M. R. Gani, and A. K. M. Sarwar, 2009, Integrated 3D seismic, core, and well log study of an Upper Pleistocene submarine fan reservoir in the Garden Banks area, northern Gulf of Mexico:  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 563-571.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90093 © 2009 GCAGS 59th Annual Meeting, Shreveport, Louisiana