--> Abstract: Pre-Devonian Petroleum Plays in the Southern Mid-Continent, by K. S. Johnson and R. A. Northcutt; #91012 (1992).

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ABSTRACT: Pre-Devonian Petroleum Plays in the Southern Mid-Continent

JOHNSON, KENNETH S., Oklahoma Geological Survey, Norman, OK, and ROBERT A. NORTHCUTT, Consultant, Oklahoma City, OK

Pre-Devonian sedimentary rocks of the southern Mid-Continent comprise a thick sequence of shallow marine carbonates interbedded with several sandstone and shale units. These strata are remarkably widespread and laterally persistent throughout most parts of the Oklahoma basin, reflecting the stability of this part of the North American craton during early Paleozic time. Pre-Devonian sediments typically are 1000-5000 ft thick in most parts of the area, although they reach 10,000 ft in the deep part of the Anadarko basin. Principal oil-and-gas plays in pre-Devonian rocks include those for the Arbuckle Group (Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician), Simpson Group (Middle-Late Ordovician), Viola Group (Late Ordovician), and Hunton Group (latest Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian). These plays occ r chiefly in carbonates (dolomites or limestone), except the Simpson Play, which produces mainly from high-purity silica sands (Oil Creek, McLish, Bromide, and "Wilcox" sands).

General characteristics of these plays are remarkably similar, in that all are related to primary structural traps which have varying degrees of diagenetic overprint. In the Arbuckle Play, porosity enhanced by fracturing, karstification, or dissolution determines where the major accumulations of petroleum occur on structures. The Simpson Play with major accumulation of petroleum is structural, with minimal diagenetic influence; the occurrence of the siliciclastic facies determines the limit of the play. The Viola Play includes areas of significant petroleum production from the fractured and solution-porosity carbonates on structural traps. The Hunton Play can be divided into structural and stratigraphic subplays: Within the Arkoma basin and the deep part of the Anardarko basin, struct ral trapping predominates in the major fields; in the shelf areas, truncation at the post-Hunton unconformity provides major areas of petroleum accumulation at the resulting stratigraphic traps.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)