--> Abstract: Examination of the Elvins Shale Gas Assessment Unit of the Reelfoot Rift for Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources, Missouri and Arkansas, USA, by James L. Coleman, David W. Houseknecht, Troy A. Cook, Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, and Richard M. Pollastro; #90124 (2011)

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AAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA

Examination of the Elvins Shale Gas Assessment Unit of the Reelfoot Rift for Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources, Missouri and Arkansas, USA

James L. Coleman1; David W. Houseknecht1; Troy A. Cook2; Christopher J. Schenk2; Ronald R. Charpentier2; Timothy R. Klett2; Richard M. Pollastro2

(1) Department of Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

(2) Department of Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO.

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently concluded an assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable, oil and natural gas resources of Arkoma Basin Province and related geological areas. One of these areas is the Reelfoot Rift of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. Within this rift zone is a thick section of Cambrian Elvins shale, which is defined by two northeast trending normal fault zones that expand the Cambrian section. The Elvins shale is a basinal shale facies of the Bonneterre carbonate bank interval that crops out in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas and lies within the thickened Cambrian interval. The Elvins Shale Gas Assessment Unit (AU) was examined for continuous gas resource potential.

Limited well data suggest that the Elvins may have been a source interval for the scattered occurrences of hydrocarbons reported in several wells in the area. Limited seismic data confirm the presence of a thick, potential shale gas interval within the core of the Reelfoot Rift. However, these data clearly indicate that the rift has been inverted, and the deep portion of the basin has been uplifted and truncated by Mesozoic erosion. Reprocessed versions of the seismic lines suggest that the Elvins shale interval has been heavily fractured and faulted within the inversion zone, and that this faulting likely compartmentalized the main structural uplift into a myriad of variably-sized fault blocks.

Limited seismic and well data are insufficient to point to any viable accumulation large enough to contain resource volumes greater than the 0.5 MMBOE or 3 BCFG minimum for the assessment. These factors, coupled with the lack of established production or significant, flowing hydrocarbon shows, led the assessment team to conclude that this area should not be quantitatively assessed at this time.