ABSTRACT: Reservoir Controls on the Vertical Distribution of Oil Production in the Altamont-Bluebell Area of the Uinta Basin, Utah

AI, GUIMEI, Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT

The upper and lower boundaries of the producing intervals of the Paleocene/Eocene Green River and Wasatch formations in the greater Altamont-Bluebell fields of the Uinta basin cut across geologic structure and stratigraphic markers. Reservoir parameters other than primary structure and stratigraphy must control the distribution and extent of production, parameters such as fractures, pressure gradients, diagenesis, lithology variations, or a combination of all of these factors. Each factor is analyzed to determine its role in controlling the distribution of production.

The producing reservoir pool is an irregularly shaped body forming hills and valleys over distances of a few miles or less that cut across the general geologic structure, which dips relatively uniformly across the fields. Contour maps of the top of the producing intervals show systematic trends of the reservoir pool shape. Northeast-southwest-trending highs and lows are prevalent in the southwest part of the field complex, whereas north-south trends dominate the eastern part. In contrast, fracture trends are approximately east-west to northwest-southeast.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91017©1992 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Casper, Wyoming, September 13-16, 1992 (2009)