United States

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.

With the development of unconventional play opportunities, the Middle Member of the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, is of renewed interest. Geochemical techniques are used to calculate mobile oil saturation to fully define this member as the key reservoir of the Bakken petroleum system.

Unconventional hybrid systems such as the Montney hybrid play represent a continuum between shale plays and conventional reservoirs, and they share common characteristics with both. The authors integrate publicly available data to illustrate regional and local controls on petroleum distribution.