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AAPG Bulletin, Vol.83, No.12, 1901-1926, 1999
Delaware Mountain Group, West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, a case of refound opportunity: Part 1 - Brushy Canyon
Exploration in Permian (Guadalupian) deep-water sandstones of the Delaware Mountain Group, west Texas and southeast New Mexico, represents a success story of the 1990s derived from reevaluation of reservoirs previously deemed uneconomical. Recent discoveries have concentrated on the Brushy Canyon in New Mexico and, to a lesser extent, the Cherry Canyon in Texas. Brushy Canyon reservoirs in particular previously were overlooked due to indications of poor reservoir quality from log and well test data; however, oil shows observed on mud logs across the northern Delaware basin led to new completion efforts in the late 1980s and 1990s using gel-sand fracture stimulations. Productive reservoirs are very fine to fine-grained arkosic to subarkosic sandstones with porosities of 12-25% and permeabilities typically of 1-5 md. Better reservoir quality is concentrated in massive channel sandstones variably interpreted as deposited by turbidity or saline density currents. Significant clay content, lamination, and close interbedding between oil- and water-bearing units make log analysis and reserve estimates problematic. As a result, the mud log remains the cheapest, most practical indicator of pay. Reservoir sandstones can be divided into a series of major productive trends related to proximal/slope and more distal/basin-floor depositional settings. Well productivity is variable within each trend, but primary recovery rarefy exceeds 10%. Options for enhanced recovery include pressure maintenance, waterflooding, and carbon dioxide flooding. Early indications suggest that carbon dioxide flooding may be most appropriate in these low-permeability, clay-bearing reservoirs.
Keywords:BASIN