Abstract: Targeted Infill Drilling at Stratton Field Using 3-D Seismic

John Suydam, Dale Reitz

Stratton field is located on the Vicksburg flexure trend in Nueces and Kleberg counties, south Texas. It has produced over 2.8 tcf of gas since 1937 from Frio fluvial/deltaic sandstones and Vicksburg shallow marine sandstones. The field is a combination stratigraphic and faulted structural trap, and contains numerous highly compartmentalized sandstone reservoirs. Continuous infield drilling is required to keep the field producing, and 3-D seismic data have been used to select the best locations for these wells.

In 1992, the Bureau of Economic Geology shot an 8-mi² survey in the southern end of the field, and the resulting structural interpretation presented many more fault traps that were not apparent in the 2-D seismic interpretation. So far, all of the new wells drilled within the survey have encountered untapped compartments enclosed by fault traps. Furthermore, fault cuts in the new wells have always been within 20 ft of the position predicted by seismic data.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90983©1994 GCAGS and Gulf Coast SEPM 44th Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas, October 6-7, 1994