--> ABSTRACT: The Upper Jurassic of the Conecuh Embayment: An Integrated Regional Study of Borehole and Seismic Data Reveals New Plays and Exploration Techniques for a Mature Province, by R. Eric Higgins and John D. Pigott; #90906(2001)

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R. Eric Higgins1, John D. Pigott2

(1) Vintage Petroleum, Tulsa, OK
(2) University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

ABSTRACT: The Upper Jurassic of the Conecuh Embayment: An Integrated Regional Study of Borehole and Seismic Data Reveals New Plays and Exploration Techniques for a Mature Province

An integrated study of logs, core and thin sections from over 50 wells, together with 1300 miles of 2D and 50 square miles of 3D seismic data, reveals new plays and techniques for exploration in the Jurassic Conecuh Embayment of southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Subtle trends that control play types and prospectivity in the Oxfordian Smackover and Kimmeridgian Haynesville Formations are identified by regional seismic interpretation, paleotopographic reconstructions and quantitative well log attribute mapping.

It is argued that the Embayment was subdivided into several distinct, Late Jurassic depositional environments, defined by the effects of two regional paleotopographic features, a perimeter highland bounding the Embayment to the north and east and a prominent north-south linear high that divided it roughly in half. Regional log correlations clarify Smackover and Haynesville facies relationships, demonstrating that the productive lower Haynesville sands of Covington County, Alabama are stratigraphically equivalent to the Buckner Anhydrite to the west, rather than the "Frisco City Sand" of Monroe and Conecuh Counties.

Geologically constrained geophysical modeling and processing experiments highlight new seismic prospecting opportunities, but also demonstrate the severe limitations imposed by the acquisition and processing parameters typically employed. Recommendations are offered for new seismic acquisition, processing and interpretation methodologies to improve evaluation of the prospective Upper Jurassic section. Although it is unlikely that there remain many very large, untested structural features in the Conecuh Embayment, the results of the study suggest that there may be several untested stratigraphic or combination structural-stratigraphic play types worthy of further investigation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado