Petroleum generation in the southeast Texas basin: Implications for hydrocarbon

occurrence at the South Liberty salt dome

SouthLiberty_SaltDome

ABSTRACT

Geochemical characteristics of hydrocarbons from the South Liberty field, Liberty

County, Texas, were integrated with local stratigraphy, pressure, temperature,
seismic data, and formation water chemistry to determine the source, maturity,
and migration pathways of hydrocarbons associated with the salt dome in the
southeast Texas Gulf Coast. Fourteen crude oil samples from the softgeopressured Cook Mountain and Yegua (both Eocene) and Frio (Oligocene)
reservoirs (9892886m[32459469 ft]) were analyzed by whole-oil high-resolution
gas
chromatography (GC) and GCmass spectrometry. Pressure and temperature data
from 36 wells were used to model the thermal maturation history in the vicinity of
the dome.

South Liberty oils were found to belong to a single genetic family, sourced from
rocks with a similar level of maturity. Biomarkers indicate they were formed in a
marginal marine environment with notable terrestrial input from a likely lower
Tertiary source rock (probably the downdip lower Claiborne and/or Wilcox Group).
Oils were generated within the peak oil window (vitrinite reflectance, ~0.60.9%)
at expulsion temperatures of 125 to 130C. Thermal modeling indicates the lower
Claiborne and/or upper Wilcox beds attained optimum maturity in and around the
dome between 8 to 20 Ma and 18 to 31 Ma, respectively. Oil migration toward the
structure probably occurred through faults breaching the deepseated lower
Claiborne/upper Wilcox source.

Two severely biodegraded samples were found, and these were associated with
cooler formation water (50 to 55C) with a greater meteoric
water component (4860%). Comparison with Brazoria County oils (100 km [62
mi] to the southwest) indicates that the South Liberty oils belong to the same
genetic family, with minor differences resulting from a greater input from
terrestrial kerogen.

INTRODUCTION.

Most of the oil and gas fields of the southeast Texas Gulf Coast are located along
the flanks of salt domes (Halbouty, 1979) (Figure 1). Although many questions
are unanswered regarding the geochemical characteristics and origin of
hydrocarbons, even less is known about the effect of salt domes on petroleum

migration and emplacement. Based on geochemical characteristics of oils and

thermal maturity modeling, regional and local studies suggest that the lower
Tertiary beds, most likely the Wilcox Group, are the source of these hydrocarbons
(Kennicutt et al., 1992; Sassen et al., 1994; Guo, 2004). Supporting evidence
comes from the total organic carbon ([TOC] 1.62%) and vitrinite reflectance
([Ro] 0.54%) of Wilcox shales from neighboring south-central Louisiana (Sassen
et al., 1988).

However, parameters such as the (1) geochemical characteristics of oil; (2) age,
depositional environment, and maturity of the source rocks; and (3) migration
and alteration of hydrocarbons are not well constrained for a large part of the
southeast Texas Gulf Coast, including the study area in Liberty County. In
addition, no report exists as to whether the oils present in the local producing
reservoirs of the Eocene (Cook Mountain and Yegua) and the Oligocene (Frio)
belong to a single family (i.e., were derived from the source rocks having similar
maturation history), nor has it been possible to correlate oils from different fields
of the southeast Texas basin.

This study includes molecular characterization of oils collected from the Cook
Mountain, Yegua, and Frio formations around the South Liberty salt dome (Figures
2, 3) and integrated with information on the formation water chemistry,
stratigraphy, and subsurface pressure and temperature data of the surrounding
area to understand the environment of deposition, age of the source rock,
maturation and charge history, and postemplacement alterations. In addition, the
biomarker parameters of these oils are compared with those reported for oils
from the Frio Formation in Brazoria County (Sassen et al., 1994; Guo, 2004),
located 100 km (62 mi) southwest of the study area, to provide information on
the hydrocarbon systems of the southeast Texas Gulf Coast basin. Finally,
probable migration pathways for hydrocarbon migration have been inferred
based on the interpretation of three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data.