New Approaches to Arkoma Basin Gas Exploration: ABSTRACT

The Arkoma basin is becoming a giant among gas-producing areas. Few gaps remain in the 150-mi. chain of gas pools from near Hartshorne, Oklahoma, to Russellville, Arkansas. Rapid development since 1949 has resulted in 90 new gas fields. Well-exposed surface structures, anticlines, and fault traps have been mapped by field geologists and by seismic crews. Drilling these structures has been a principal exploration method. At least 35 separate units from the Upper Pennsylvanian to the Upper Ordovician have proved productive. With the hundreds of new deeper wells, it is now evident that the principal trap is stratigraphic, with structure often secondary. Much of the gas production today is from sandstones that have previously been identified as lower Atokan. Evidence is now available to reassign these beds to the reinstated Winslow Formation of the Morrow Group. The Winslow Formation is apparently of deltaic origin, the sediments having come from a predominantly northern source. Channels, with a generally north-south orientation were established outward into the basin. These channels are evident on sandstone porosity maps of individual Winslow sandstones. Sandstone mapping is now possible in much of the Arkoma basin and will greatly aid in selecting both development and wildcat locations. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1562------------