Publications

Historically, the exploration for oil and gas resources has focused on identifying structural and stratigraphic trams associated with conventional accumulations. This special issue aims at introducing a new exploration paradigm through case studies in the United States and Canada.

A play from western Canada and one from New Mexico produce from carrier beds that serve as migration pathways for oil in conventional reservoirs. Carrier beds typically have lower porosity and permeability associated with facies changes. Lower permeability, however, is no longer a barrier to production.

The offshore Mancos play is interpreted as a carrier bed play within the Mancos total petroleum system. Oils generated in downdip mature source rocks migrated updip through the carrier bed sandstones of the offshore play and into conventional reservoirs.

A carrier-bed play is characterized by low-quality reservoirs with pervasive, regional hydrocarbon saturation. The Denver and Powder River Basins, Rocky Mountain region, United States, are examples of carrier-bed plays. This play requires horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracture stimulation.

Reservoir characterization of unconventional reservoirs of the Cardium Formation along the western margin of the legacy Pembina oil pool in central Alberta is explored in this paper. These halo plays represent portions of conventional light oil pools that do not meet traditional petrophysical cutoffs and pay criteria.

This study attempted to define the difference in oil saturation index of different lithofacies within meter-scale cycles, characterize oil indicators of different lithofacies, and evaluate the effect of meter-scale cycles on oil storage capacity and oil saturation in the Wolfcamp A.