McFARLAN, EDWARD, Jr., Consultant, Houston, TX; and MICHAEL M. GIEBER, Halliburton Geophysical Services, Inc., Sugarland, TX

ABSTRACT: Regional Plio-Pleistocene Oil and Gas Plays and Leads, Ship Shoal/Green Canyon 3-D Survey

In the Ship Shoal-Green Canyon Area, the high quality, speculative 3-D seismic data of Halliburton Geophysical Services, Inc., combined with regional geologic data, provided a firm basis for evaluating the oil and gas exploration potential of a large portion of the producing Flexure Trend. The seismic data were integrated with electric logs from scattered wildcats. These logs were annotated with foram-nanno fossil data from paleo reports.

The regional study resulted in a realistic interpretation of the depositional and structural history during upper Pliocene and Pleistocene time. This was a time when submarine fan, turbidite and gravity-flow sands, silts, and shale- were deposited in deep-water, salt-withdrawal mini-basins adjacent to growing positive salt features in the 3-D area. The identification of Plio-Pleistocene sequence boundaries and their ages was done with time-marker fossils and seismic reflection patterns. The prospective reservoir sand layers in the Nebraskan and Kansan substratum units were mapped using axes of deposition defined by a 2.5 second slice map of 3-D seismic data also featuring positive salt features, regional faults and salt-withdrawal minibasins. The tectonic and sand mapping resulted in he

identification of many exploration leads for future oil and gas exploration in the 3-D survey area that is surrounded by producing fields.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90987©1993 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25-28, 1993.