Stratigraphy, Depositional Environments and Petroleum Potential of the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota

Richard Ashu
Harold Hamm School of Geology and Geological Engineering University of North Dakota; [email protected]

The potential for hydrocarbon exploration requires the presence of organic rich, thermally mature rock units or suitable accumulations of oil or gas. The potential of the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota is poorly known due to the sparsity of stratigraphic, geochemical, and petrophysical data. This study is an analysis of the stratigraphy, lithofacies distribution petroleum potential and paleo-environments of the Three Forks Formation in North Dakota. Five major lithofacies are identified and presented. The detailed lithology is compute by employing a probabilistic interpretation approach calibrated with lab results. This facies correlate well with electrofacies predicted by employing principal component analysis and clustering techniques to selected lithology-sensitive logs. Hydrocarbon source rock analysis, including type and quantity of kerogen, and thermal maturity on all five facies using Rock-Eval 6 pyrolysis and LECO TOC shows that the units have poor to fair petroleum potential and contain immature Type II and Type III kerogens. Six members of the Three Forks are identified and a proposed depositional model is constructed based on detailed core examination and petrographic analysis.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90181©2013 AAPG/SEG Rocky Mountain Rendezvous, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, September 27-30, 2013