Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.9,
No.4, pp. 393-412, 1986
©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press,
Ltd.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR
OIL AND GAS RESERVES IN REGIONALBASIN STRUCTURES -- AN EXAMPLE
FROM THE POWDER RIVER BASIN, WYOMING, USA
J.-C. Pratsch*
* Sohio Petroleum
Co-International, PO Box 4587, Houston, Tx, 77210, USA.
Abstract
The location and geographic distribution of
oil and gas reserves within a producing basin often indicate that
a remarkable concentration of reserves has taken place in a small
area. The concentration of reserves is the result of secondary
hydrocarbon migration, itself governed by the basin-wide regional
structure which was present at the time of migration. These
factors permit the definition of the most prospective areas of a
new basin or play at an early stage in the exploration cycle.
Basic geochemical data are required for the definition of
critical details of the effective generative depocentre, and
regional geological-geophysical data are required to establish
regional structures near particular source-bed levels, or near
top Basement as the deepest prospective level. Other data
commonly utilized in the early stages of exploration, such as
basin classification schemes, reservoir bed studies and tectonic
analyses, are rather less important in forward basin evaluation.
