--> Abstract: The Utah Oil Sample Bank, by T. C. Chidsey, Jr., C. D. Morgan, and C. M. Olsen; #90993 (1993).

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CHIDSEY, THOMAS C., JR., CRAIG D. MORGAN, and CAROLYN M. OLSEN, Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT

ABSTRACT: The Utah Oil Sample Bank

In the Paradox basin of southeastern Utah, oils produced from the Permian Coconino Sandstone in Boundary Butte field and the Ismay and Desert Creek zones of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation in Ismay and Greater Aneth fields appear to be generated from the same source rocks. This observation is one of the early results of an oil sampling program designed to determine the physical, biomarker, and isotopic characteristics of Utah crude oil. These data can help determine the source, thermal history, and migration pathways of oil. Interpretation of this information can be used to find new reserves, especially from scattered, often isolated, intermittent or rarely productive reservoirs.

In 1991, the Utah Geological Survey (UGS) initiated an oil sampling program as part of a state-wide hydrocarbon source rock study in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining. Representative samples from all discovered reservoirs in Utah have been collected and are available to the public for use in conducting basic oil analyses and biological fingerprinting. The Utah oil sample bank is stored at the UGS Sample Library and contains 75 oils from 38 fields and 28 reservoirs. The reservoirs range in age from Devonian in the Paradox basin to Tertiary (Pliocene) on the northern side of the Great Salt Lake. Oil samples were donated by 34 field operators. Known and potential source rocks are being collected for oil-to-rock correlation. To date, twelve oils have been analyzed for biomarker and isotopic signatures. All analyses and interpretations will be released as a series of reports of investigation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90993©1993 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 12-15, 1993.