Covenant Field Blueqube Interpretation Results: Central Utah Hinge Line Exploration Strategy

Joseph Barraud², Duncan J. Bate¹, Mark Davies², Paul Versnel², and Phill Houghton^1
1ARKeX, Houston, TX
²ARKeX UK, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The Utah Hinge Line is an area with proven hydrocarbon potential. The discovery of the Covenant field by Wolverine in 2003 has generated much interest in the area. This discovery in Sevier County, Utah, is 146 miles South West of the nearest thrust belt production at Pineview in Summit County, Utah. Many structural targets exist between the Covenant field and the analogous production to the North. However, the area is structurally complicated and the cost of seismic data is high due to difficult terrain and permitting issues. The complexity of the area and sparse data coverage means that there are many unanswered geological questions. The Tertiary cover, the salt lenses in the Arapien and the volcanic cover all mean that structural interpretation of the thrust belt is challenging. Several counties are believed to have Navajo sandstone potential including Sevier, Sanpete, Millard, Wasatch, Juab and Utah. In order to explore effectively in the Hinge Line, detailed geological information is needed which either can be integrated with the existing 2D seismic data or used to target further geophysical data acquisition (2D or 3D seismic). Feasibility modeling of Covenant field suggested that there is sufficient density contrast in the stratigraphic column to identify structural closures at Navajo depth. To demonstrate the effectiveness of BlueQube technology as a blueprint for exploration in the Hinge Line a 150 sq mile survey was flown that incorporated the Covenant field discovery. The final results of the interpretation study clearly indicate that the technology would have highlighted the Covenant structure, plus with further 2D/3D modelling a structure map at Navajo depth can be generated that can be used for prospect evaluation. A robust workflow which includes all publicly available information elucidates additional structural highs that warrant further investigation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90092©2009 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section, July 9-11, 2008, Denver, Colorado