--> Abstract: Paleotopography Association, Lithofacies Architecture, and Reservoir Quality of the Upper James Lime Reservoir (Pearsall Fm, Lower Cretaceous) in the Poplarville Field, Pearl River County, Mississippi, by R. Loucks and M. Ver Hoeve; #90950 (1996).

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Abstract: Paleotopography Association, Lithofacies Architecture, and Reservoir Quality of the Upper James Lime Reservoir (Pearsall Fm, Lower Cretaceous) in the Poplarville Field, Pearl River County, Mississippi

Robert Loucks, Mark Ver Hoeve

The James Lime has been an exploration target since the discovery of the Fairway Field in the East Texas Basin in 1960. This study focuses on a deep James Lime gas discovery (14,000 to 14,500 ft) in the Mississippi Salt Basin made by Exxon in the early 1980s. The relationships among paleotopography, lithofacies architecture, and reservoir quality in the Poplarville field provide guidance for exploring for other James Lime prospects.

Distribution of the James Lime reservoir facies is controlled by paleotopography associated with deeper buried salt structures. Nine lithofacies are recognized from core and are correlable with wireline log responses. They range from deeper water, low-energy wackestones, packstones, and hydrozoa/cryptalgal bindstones deposited during sea-level transgression to shallower water, high-energy Requinid/coral packstones, grainstones, and boundstones deposited during sea-level highstand. These lithofacies are laterally restricted.

Reservoir quality is controlled by depositional facies and diagenesis. Nearly all porosity occurs in the Requinid/coral packstones, grainstones, and boundstones. The packstones and boundstones mainly contain ineffective moldic and microporosity. Porosity ranges from 5 to 16% and permeability ranges form <0.01 to 7 md. In contrast, the pore network in the grainstones consists of effective interparticle and some moldic porosity. Permeability is estimated to range between 1 to 10 md.

Exploration should be focused toward areas where paleotopography produced shoaling condition during James Lime deposition. The Requinid/coral grainstones will be the main

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90950©1996 AAPG GCAGS 46th Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas