ABSTRACT

The updip Tuscaloosa trend of southwest Mississippi lies north of both the Lower Cretaceous shelf edge and the currently developing "intermediate" Lower Tuscaloosa play in the "Florida parishes" of eastern Louisiana and in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. The updip trend first became active in the 1940s with the discovery of major reserves at Brookhaven and Mallalieu fields in Lincoln County and Cranfield field in Adams County. Today the trend is considered mature; however, it has become increasingly more active with the discovery of several new fields since 1981, including Olive, Liberty, and Friendship Church fields. One of the primary reasons for several of these discoveries is the development of new seismic-stratigraphic methods integrated with detailed subsurface geological interpretations. The fact that oil can be found at relatively shallow depths with reasonable drilling costs and minimal engineering problems has provided the incentive to pursue this play.