OKLAHOMA
NON-EXCLUSIVE STUDY

QUANTITIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE BURIAL, THERMAL AND HYDROCARBON GENERATION HISTORY USING AFTA^® AND VITRINITE REFLECTANCE
with maturity modelling provided by Dr. Doug Waples

How important is the last 300 million years to exploration in Oklahoma?

Why is it ignored?

A PROPOSED STUDY- PLANNING STAGE

The Southern Oklahoma oil and gas fields are interspersed amongst a complex system of deformed mountain belts, uplifted crystalline basement and enormously thick foreland basins. There are no units throughout most of the region any younger than Pennsylvanian in age and for this reason, conventional studies using the preserved stratigraphy have been unable to answer questions which are fundamental to exploration:

• When were hydrocarbons generated?
• Were hydrocarbons generated at different times in different locations?
• Were there subsequent episodes of heating between Pennsylvanian deposition and the present? If so, when?
• Are observed structural relationships related to post-Pennsylvanian events?
• Has trap integrity been affected by subsequent events?
• Can possible post-Pennsylvanian events account for differences in oil and gas occurrences across the region?
• Was there post-Pennsylvanian deposition which has subsequently been eroded? If so, when and how much?
• Has post-Pennsylvanian heating affected reservoir quality? What control can be placed on timing?

This study is designed to understand the timing of important thermal and tectonic events which have affected Oklahoma using AFTA and vitrinite reflectance (VR) data. Samples will be collected from the following regions: Seminole Arch, Arbuckle Mountains, Ardmore Basin, Wichita Uplift, Anadarko Basin, Amarillo Uplift and northern regions, including the Sooner Trend (for further information on sampling strategy, please contact us). AFTA will provide constraints on the magnitude and timing of various thermal episodes, and VR data will also be used to constrain the magnitude of maximum paleotemperature. In addition to selected outcrop localities, AFTA and VR will be used in key downhole sequences to define the paleogeothermal gradient, and hence paleo-heatflow, at critical times in the basin's history. These parameters will vastly improve basin models for the region. Thermal history constraints provided by Geotrack (AFTA and VR) will be employed by Dr. Doug Waples, an internationally recognised leader in basin modelling, to give constrained maturity models which will add greater confidence and direction for explorationists in the region. This study will provide practical information about structural and timing relationships in the region of direct application by companies both active in the region and those considering taking up acreage.

For further details please contact us