Origin of the Offshore Louisiana/Mississippi Delta Oils by Reservoir-Source Decoupling

COMET, PAUL A., MAHLON C. KENNICUTT II, NORMAN L. GUINASSO, JR., GUY J. DENOUX, THOMAS J. MCDONALD, ROGER A. BURKE, JR., and JAMES M. BROOKS, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Carbon and sulfur stable isotope composition, metal and sulfur content, biomarker fingerprints, and reservoir age have been used to define the distribution of major oil types in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These groups include the oils with characteristics typical of carbonate sources (Smackover, Florida, Shelf Break, Campeche, and a Cuban oil), Austin Chalk oils, Woodbine Trend oils, Tuscaloosa oils, Mississippi oils, south Texas oils influenced by lignites, postmature oils (condensates), and oils contaminated with bitumen during migration or pooling. A given oil type is confined to reservoir rocks of specific age. The spatial and chronological association of the oils suggests that multiple source rocks need to be invoked to explain the chemistry of Gulf of Mexico crude oils.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91006 © 1991 GCAGS and GC-SEPM Meeting, Houston, Texas, October 16-18, 1991 (2009)