Subsurface and Reservoir Analysis of the Upper Devonian Fourth Sand in Taylor County, West Virginia

J. D. McConnell
West Virginia University

The Upper Devonian Venango Group of West Virginia is a major Appalachian gas play. Best known for their informal driller’s names, these shallow, multiple sandstone and siltstone reservoirs formed in fluvial, deltaic, interdeltaic shoreline, shelf, and slope depositional environments of the Catskill delta complex. However, these numerous units are difficult to correlate, resulting in reservoir identification problems.

The “Fourth Sand”, one of the many sandstone units of the Venango Group is the topic of study for an integrated subsurface, reservoir analysis in Taylor County, north-central West Virginia. The data will include paper and electric log data, multiple rotary sidewall cores, and well test data, which will be analyzed to investigate depositional relationships, connectivity and geometry of sandbodies, and petrophysical parameters of the reservoir. This information will be used to improve the characterization of the “Fourth Sand”, as well as to other Upper Devonian sandstone and siltstone reservoirs. Characterization will open new opportunities to expand natural gas resources.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90087 © 2008 AAPG/SEG Student Expo, Houston, Texas