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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
(Begin page 169)
AAPG Bulletin, V.
Monterey Formation porcelanite reservoirs of the Elk Hills field, Kern
County, California
S. A. Reid,1 J. L. McIntyre2
1Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc., P. O. Box 1001, Tupman,
California, 93276; email: [email protected]
2Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc., P. O. Box 1001, Tupman, California, 93276;
email: [email protected]
AUTHORS
Stephen Anthony Reid is a senior geological advisor for Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from California State University, Northridge. His work on the Miocene reservoirs of Elk Hills has focused on the identification of trapping characteristics of Stevens turbidite systems and on development of reservior models for Monterey Formation porcelanite reservoirs.
Jana McIntyre works as a development geologist for Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc. She has worked on several Miocene Monterey Formation turbidite and porcelanite reservoirs at Elk Hills and is currently working on shaly sandstone reservoirs of the Pliocene Etchegoin Formation. She received her geology degrees from the University of California at Davis (B.S.) and Oregon State University (M.S.).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We appreciate the contributions of the following individuals in preparing
this reservoir
model: Tor Nilsen for Monterey facies identification; JoAnn Conard for
fracture descriptions; Drew Dickert, Greg Lord, and Bob Horton for observations on
microscopic textures; and Tom Hampton for
reservoir
engineering comments. Jim Rogers, Mark
Longman, Richard Behl, and Ray Sorenson provided helpful suggestions on improving the
initial manuscript. We also thank the management of Occidental of Elk Hills, Inc., for
permission to publish this article.
ABSTRACT
Oil and gas production from Monterey Formation porcelanite at the
Elk Hills field in California's San Joaquin basin occurs from intervals that have
quartz-phase mineralogy. However, characteristics differ from chert and porcelanite
reservoirs of the coastal California Monterey Formation in that matrix porosity is more
typical of the opal-CT phase, petroleum storage is mostly in the matrix, and natural
fracture patterns are dominantly small scale. Several Elk Hills reservoirs located on two
large anticlines produce from porcelanite. The 29R AB and 31S D are the most
productive porcelanite reservoirs, each having cumulative oil production of about 40
million bbl. Although interbedded with siliceous shale, sandstone, and dolomite, most of
the porous reservoir
rock is laminated porcelanite. Porosity averages between 20 and 25%
and is evenly distributed throughout the porcelanite as extremely small pores ranging in
size from 1 to 10 µm. Matrix permeability averages 0.8 md, but flow of oil and gas is
enhanced through fractures parallel with and perpendicular to bedding. Higher than
anticipated porosity may be in part due to migration of hydrocarbons into the porcelanite
reservoirs while still in opal-CT-phase mineralogy. The dissolution of opal-CT and
precipitation of quartz occurs in place, and the resulting quartz-phase mineral structure
mimicks the porous opal-CT framework.
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