--> Abstract: Geology of Bravo Dome Carbon Dioxide Gas Field, New Mexico, by R. F. Broadhead; #91004 (1991)

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Geology of Bravo Dome Carbon Dioxide Gas Field, New Mexico

BROADHEAD, RONALD F., New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Socorro, NM

The Bravo Dome carbon dioxide gas field is located in Union and Harding Counties of northeast New Mexico. The Bravo Dome field

covers approximately 800,000 acres, but areal boundaries of the field have not been fully defined. Production in 1989 was 113 bcf of gas from 272 wells. Cumulative production at the end of 1989 was 626 bcf. Estimated recoverable reserves are more than 10 tcf. The gas is 98-99% CO(2). Most CO(2) produced from Bravo Dome is used for enhanced oil recovery in the Permian basin.

The Bravo Dome is a faulted, southeast-plunging, basement-cored anticlinal nose. It is bordered on the east and south by large high-angle faults of Pennsylvanian and Wolfcampian (Early Permian) age.

The principal reservoir in the Bravo Dome field is the Tubb sandstone (Leonardian-Permian) at depths of 1900 to 2950 ft. The Tubb consists of 0-400 ft of fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted, orange feldspathic sandstone. It rests unconformably on Precambrian basement on the highest parts of the Bravo Dome and is not offset by late Paleozoic faults that form the dome. The Cimarron Anhydrite (Leonardian-Permian) conformably overlies the Tubb and is a vertical seal.

The trap at Bravo Dome has structural and stratigraphic aspects. Drape of Tubb sandstone over the dome created structural closure on the northeast, southeast, and southwest flanks of the field. Trapping on the northwest flank of the field is associated with regional northwest thinning of the Tubb.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91004 © 1991 AAPG Annual Convention Dallas, Texas, April 7-10, 1991 (2009)