Using Venus’ Cratering History to Estimate the Hydrocarbon Production Potential of Buried Terrestrial Impact Structures

Abstract

Herein lies an attempt to determine the economic, and ultimately scientific, value of buried, petroliferous astroblemes underlying the world’s continents. First, an estimate of the total number and size of impact events on Earth since the Cambrian Period is derived using the surface of Venus as an Earth analog. That estimate is then reduced to continental structures based on statistical analyses of cratering dynamics and physical differences between Earth and Venus. Using accepted crater scaling parameters, the cumulative volume of displaced and altered rock within the hypothetical craters is calculated. Next, an in-depth analysis of the Red Wing Creek structure in North Dakota, a productive astrobleme nearing the end of its secondary recovery phase, is performed in order to ascertain the reservoir characteristics of impacted strata. After comparing the derived parameters to historical production volumes at Red Wing Creek and two other producing astroblemes, the values were adjusted and applied to the total displaced volume so that the original oil in place (OOIP) and expected ultimate recovery (EUR) could be estimated. The study finds that a conservative estimate for OOIP at currently undiscovered impact structures is 400 billion barrels, with an EUR of 30 billion barrels.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90357 ©2019 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 15-18, 2019