Geologic Assessment of Undiscovered Conventional Oil and Gas Resources —Middle Eocene Claiborne Group, United States Part of the Gulf of Mexico Basin By Paul C. Hackley U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012–1144 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior KEN SALAZAR, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Marcia K. McNutt, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2012 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Hackley, P.C., 2012, Geologic assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources—Middle Eocene Claiborne Group, United States part of the Gulf of Mexico Basin: U.S. Geological Survey Open–File Report 2012–1144, 87 p., available only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1144/. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. ii Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Assessment Unit and Petroleum System Concepts ................................................................................................... 3 Data Sources and Discovery History Analysis ........................................................................................................... 4 Regional Geologic and Structural Setting ...................................................................................................................... 4 Structural Setting........................................................................................................................................................ 7 Stratigraphy .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Paleogeography, Sediment Source Areas, and Depositional Systems .................................................................... 20 Elements of the Petroleum System .............................................................................................................................. 23 Source Rocks and Thermal Maturation .................................................................................................................... 23 Migration of Hydrocarbons ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Reservoir Rocks ....................................................................................................................................................... 28 Lower Claiborne - Queen City Sand and Reklaw Formation ................................................................................ 28 Middle Claiborne – Sparta Sand and Cook Mountain Formation .......................................................................... 30 Upper Claiborne – Yegua and Cockfield Formations ............................................................................................ 31 Traps and Seals ....................................................................................................................................................... 33 Influence of the Louann Salt .................................................................................................................................... 35 Overview of Claiborne Exploration and Production History .......................................................................................... 35 Resource Assessment ................................................................................................................................................. 36 Comparisons with the 1995 Assessment ................................................................................................................. 38 Geologic Model ........................................................................................................................................................ 39 Stable Shelf .......................................................................................................................................................... 39 Expanded Fault Zone ........................................................................................................................................... 41 Slope and Basin Floor .......................................................................................................................................... 42 Data Supporting the Geologic Model .................................................................................................................... 43 Lower Claiborne Stable Shelf Gas and Oil (50470120) ............................................................................................ 43 Lower Claiborne Expanded Fault Zone Gas (50470121) ......................................................................................... 50 Lower Claiborne Slope and Basin Floor Gas (50470122) ........................................................................................ 52 Lower Claiborne Cane River (50470123) ................................................................................................................. 54 Upper Claiborne Stable Shelf Gas and Oil (50470124) ............................................................................................ 54 Upper Claiborne Expanded Fault Zone Gas (50470125) ......................................................................................... 57 Upper Claiborne Slope and Basin Floor Gas (50470126) ........................................................................................ 60 References Cited ......................................................................................................................................................... 62 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................................. 74 Appendix B .................................................................................................................................................................. 76 Appendix C .................................................................................................................................................................. 78 Appendix D .................................................................................................................................................................. 80 Appendix E .................................................................................................................................................................. 82 Appendix F .................................................................................................................................................................. 84 Appendix G .................................................................................................................................................................. 86 iii Figures 1 Map of Gulf Coast States showing petroleum province boundaries, outline of Upper Jurassic- Cretaceous-Tertiary Composite total petroleum system (in part), Claiborne Group outcrop, and the upper Wilcox Group shelf margin ................................................................................................................ 3 2. Generalized stratigraphic section of the northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain showing potential hydrocarbon source rock intervals ..................................................................................................... 5 3. Map showing Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary Composite total petroleum system (TPS) for the Gulf of Mexico Basin ................................................................................................................................... 6 4. Stratigraphy of the Claiborne Group. ................................................................................................................ 8 5. Map showing study area (onshore U.S. Gulf Coast and State waters) showing Claiborne Group outcrop, Wilcox and Claiborne expansion faults, and outline of major structural features ................................ 9 6. Map showing study area showing approximate locations of Claiborne Group oil and gas reservoirs ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 7. Histogram of depth to top of Claiborne Group reservoirs, Texas and Louisiana ............................................. 11 8.