According to the findings of a geologically oriented study of the National Petroleum Council's Region 6, the prospects for significant additions to reserves in the Gulf Series are good in southeast Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and fair to poor in the rest of the area. In order to assign more finite terms to the potential of the unexplored area of the Gulf Series of Region 6, the following parameters have been derived: an area classed as "good" has a yield of 150,000 bbl/cu mi; "fair" has a yield of 80,000 bbl/cu mi, and "poor" has a yield of 50,000 bbl/cu mi. The presence or absence of reservoir-type rocks, source beds (which usually can be assumed to be present in the Gulf basin), and trap-forming structural deformation is used as criteria for rating the various geographic areas.

In the explored area of southeast Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-Florida, which contains 30,000 cu mi of sedimentary rock, limited additional reserves may be expected in new discoveries and extensions. In the unexplored area containing 17,000 cu mi of sedimentary rocks, lenticular Tuscaloosa sandstones should provide excellent possibilities for both structurally and stratigraphically trapped oil. Fair possibilities exist in similar sandstones of the Eutaw Formation. Carbonate buildups of reeflike limestones are possible in beds of the Navarro Group on the carbonate banks off the Florida Gulf Coast.

Louisiana-Arkansas' explored area (10,000 cu mi) may have minor additions. The unexplored part (4,700 cu mi) of south Louisiana has poor potential with one possible exception; where Woodbine sandstones may occur as turbidites or as deep-water sands swept out past the Comanchean shelf, prospects are fair.

The explored part of East Texas (11,200 cu mi) will have minor additions to reserves through further exploitation. The potential of the unexplored area (3,600 cu mi) is rated poor to fair. In the Woodbine, possible turbidites and marine sandstones on the south and southwest flanks of the Sabine uplift offer fair prospects. In the Austin-Eagle Ford section, possibilities are poor to fair on the south and southeast flanks of the Sabine uplift.

South Texas potential in the explored area (8,800 cu mi) is poor except for minor additions. The potential of the unexplored area (10,200 cu mi) is also rated poor, because of the expected absence of reservoir beds.

End_of_Article - Last_Page 1785------------