Print this pageAAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA
Development and Charging of Traps Adjacent to Salt in Northern Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Subsalt Plays
(1) Geoscience Technology, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, TX.
(2) GOM Exploration, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, TX.
Understanding the development and charge history of traps adjacent to salt stocks and ridges in north-central Gulf of Mexico (GoM) subsalt plays is a critical component of pre-drill geologic risk assessment. The development of traps targeted in subsalt plays (both Miocene and Early Tertiary age reservoirs) involves interaction between sedimentation and salt movement. For traps developed adjacent to salt stocks and ridges, stratigraphic relationships observed in strata close to the trap, and within the depocenter in which the trap resides, can constrain the developmental history of the trap. In this study, the geometric development and timing of trap formation are interpreted in a series of sequentially restored cross sections for different trap styles. The structural restorations are used as input for 2D basin models that allow investigation of timing of hydrocarbon generation, expulsion, migration, accumulation, and preservation - across the length of each transect, at each restoration time interval. Models and case study examples, based on 3D seismic and well data, demonstrate that an understanding of the development of the trap, as well as, the depocenter in which the trap resides, are critical to assess components of geologic risk associated with subsalt prospects in the north-central deepwater GoM.