New Mexico Oil & Gas Production
This slide set accompanied a presentation given to the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Rep. Brian Egolf, Chairman) of the New Mexico State Legislature on February 3, 2012 by Ron Broadhead, Principal Senior Petroleum Geologist at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources(a Division of New Mexico Tech).
The slide set is identical to that given to the Legislative Committee except that slides have been given brief figurecaptions to place them in the context of the presentationand slide source material has been cited and referenced.
By Ron BroadheadNew Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resourcesa Division of New Mexico TechSocorro, NM 87801
New Mexico Oil & Gas Production
New Mexico has obtained oil and natural gas production from 3 basins: the Permian Basin,the San Juan Basin, and the Raton Basin.the Tucumcari Basin is an emerging frontierbasin in which discoveries of natural gas have been made in the last few years.
Approximately 2/3 of natural gas production has been obtained from conventional and tightsandstone reservoirs in the San Juan Basin (green) and the Permian Basin (red). The reservoirs in the gas wells that provide this production have almost all been fracked in order to yield economic levels of production. Natural gas obtained from coal beds in the San Juan Basin accounts for about 1/3 of state gas production and is in current decline. Natural gas has been produced from coal beds in the Raton Basin for the last 10 years and accounts for about 2% of state production. Graph from Broadhead and Price (2012).
New Mexico oil production reached its peak in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s andhas since been in decline. The noticeable increase in production over the last 2 yearsIs due to drilling and completion of horizontal wells with the new multistage fracking techniques in low permeability formations of the Permian Basin.
San Juan Basin
As this cross section shows, strata in the San Juan Basin dip gently down into the basin from the southand more steeply from the north. Natural gas and oil production has been traditionally obtained fromthe strata shown in blue, which are mostly tight gas sands (except for the coals of the Fruitland Formation).Minor shale gas has been produced from the Lewis Shale from vertical wells that have been productive fromdeeper, conventional reservoir – these do not represent a full test of Lewis shale gas potential as horizontal wells with multistage fracks are needed for that. The deeper Mancos Shale, having been buried deeper and thus more thermally mature may be a more attractive shale gas target, as well as a target for unconventional Oil in some areas. Cross section modified from Stone and others (1983) to indicate strata productive of natural gas and oil.
San Juan Basin
Basin flankoil potential
Deep basingas potential
On the basin flanks the Mancos Shaleis within the oil window and is currently a target for unconventionaloil exploration. The Lewis Shale is thermally immature and within thebiogenic gas window in these areas.
Within the deepest parts of the San Juan Basin as reflected by the thermal maturation profile of this well, the Mancos Shale has been thoroughly “cooked” within the basin’s “hydrocarbon kitchen” and iswithin the thermogenic gas window –shale gas potential is optimal. It isonly within the deepest parts of the basin where the Lewis Shale is within the gaswindow.
Permian Basin
Brown = strata withmost shale gas potential
Green = strata with mostongoing unconventionaloil drilling
The Permian Basin contains several attractivetargets for shale gas, including the DevonianWoodford Shale, the Mississippian Barnett Shale, and the Permian Wolfcamp shale. Low permeabilitysiltstone reservoirs in the Bone Spring Formationare currently active targets for unconventional oil by drillinghorizontal wells stimulated with multistage frack jobs and significant oil production has resulted. Other low-permeability reservoirs that have added significant oil production through application of horizontal drilling and multi-stage frack jobs in the past 2 to 3 years include the Yeso and Abo Formations on the Northwest Shelf and the Brushy Canyon sandstones in the deep Delaware Basin.
Barnett ShalePermian Basin
Depth to Barnett Shale
Barnett gasexploration fairway
The Barnett Shale is an example ofa target for shale gas in the deep basinwhere in places it is present at depths exceeding 15,000 ft. Geological characterizationhelps define a northwest-trending shale gasexploration fairway. Outside of this fairwaypotential may include unconventional oil.Maps from Broadhead and Gillard (2007)and Broadhead (2009).
Bone Spring FormationPermian Basin
The Avalon shale of the Bone Spring Formation contains substantial resources of unconventional oil. In the last two years, it has seen extensive exploration and drilling activity – oil can be produced from this reservoir through the application of horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracking. Before development of these new technologies10 years ago, the unconventional oil resource in the Bone Spring could not have been produced and Bone Spring production was limited to a relatively few smaller conventional reservoirs (shown in gray).
Raton Basin
Since 2000 the New Mexico part of the Raton Basin has been productive of natural gas reservoiredin shallow ( < 2700 ft deep) coal beds of the Raton and Vermejo Formations. In the 1970’s, a single wellproduced shale gas from the Pierre and Niobrara Shales and supplied the gas needs of Vermejo Ranch. Recently 4 vertical wells have been drilled to evaluate shale gas potential of the Pierre and Niobrara Shales and have produced small volumes of gas. Because these wells wee drilled vertically and not horizontally through the shales, they may not represent a full evaluation of shale gas potential at the places they have been drilled. Map modified from Broadhead (2008).
Raton Basin
Thi
s w
est-
to-e
ast c
ross
sec
tion
thro
ugh
the
Rat
on B
asin
sho
ws
the
stru
ctur
e of
the
stra
ta w
ithin
the
Bas
in. I
t has
bee
n st
retc
hed
vert
ical
ly to
allo
w fo
r ea
sier
insp
ectio
n. N
atur
al g
as h
as b
een
prod
uced
from
coa
ls in
the
Ver
mej
o an
d R
aton
For
mat
ions
. Prim
ary
shal
e ga
s po
tent
ial i
s w
ithin
the
deep
erpa
rts
of th
e ba
sin
in th
e P
ierr
e an
d N
iobr
ara
Sha
les
whe
re th
ey h
ave
been
“co
oked
” in
to th
e ga
sw
indo
w. O
n th
e sh
allo
w fl
anks
of t
he b
asin
, the
se s
hale
s ar
e w
ithin
the
oil a
nd b
ioge
nic
gas
win
dow
s an
d sh
ale-
gas
pote
ntia
l is
low
er. C
ross
sec
tion
mod
ified
from
Bro
adhe
ad (
2010
).
Tucumcari Basin – an emerging gas basin
The Tucumcari Basin of east-central New Mexicois an emerging gas basin following recent discoveries ofnatural gas. Gas liquids as well as oil might also be present in parts of the basin.
Reservoirs are Pennsylvanian (Strawn andCanyon) sandstones interbedded with organic-rich shales in in deeply buriedelevator basins. In these basins, the shales havebeen cooked and have generated gas. Reservoirs are sandstones of limited permeability that will need to be fracked. Horizontal drilling combined with fracking may be required foroptimal recovery in some places. Cross sectionand map from Broadhead (2001).
References cited for figures in slide set
Broadhead, R.F., 2001, New Mexico elevator basins -1: Petroleum systems studied in southern Ancestral Rocky Mountains: Oil and Gas Journal, v. 99, no. 2, p. 32-38.
Broadhead, R.F., and Gillard, L., 2007, The Barnett Shale in southeastern New Mexico: Distribution, thickness, and source rock characterization: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Open-file report 502, 56 p. plus plates.
Broadhead, R.F., 2008, The natural gas potential of north-central New Mexico: Colfax, Mora and Taos Counties: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Open-file report 510, 145 p. plus plates.
Broadhead, R.F., 2009, Mississippian strata of southeastern New Mexico: Distribution, structure, and hydrocarbon plays: New Mexico Geology, v. 31, no. 3, p. 65-76.
Broadhead, R.F., 2010, Oil and natural gas potential of the pre-Cretaceous section, Raton Basin, New Mexico: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Search and Discovery, Article No. 10260, 24 p.
Broadhead, R.F., and Price, L.G., 2012, New Mexico’s natural gas resources: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Earth Matters, Winter 2012.
Stone, W.J., Lyford, F.P., Frenzel, P.F., Mizell, N.H., and Padgett, E.T., 1983, Hydrogeology and water resources of San Juan Basin, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, Hydrologic Report 6, 70 p. plus plates.
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