Miocene Geology of Matagorda Island Calhoun County, Texas

ABSTRACT Matagorda Island is located in Calhoun County, Texas. In past years, the island has not been explored and drilled for oil and gas because the surface had been purchased by the federal government in 1941 and converted to a military reservation. Several Miocene-productive gas fields surround the island. Because gas has been produced from these fields around the island, it was assumed that gas would trap in appropriate structures on the island. However, the results of drilling for oil and gas on Matagorda Island have been non-productive and disappointing. Potential reservoir sands in the middle Miocene formation and the top of the massive Miocene sand section offer the best possibility for future gas production from stratigraphic-structural traps on the island.