Basinal dark-gray to black marine shales in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin that have been traditionally correlated as the Barnett Shale (Upper Mississippian) are late Mississippian to Morrowan (Early Pennsylvanian) in age. The Upper Mississippian Barnett Shale in the south correlates northward with Chesterian and Meramecian strata on the Mississippian shelf. The shelf strata in the north are dominated by marine limestones; tongues of Barnett shales extend northward onto the shelf where they intertongue with the shelf limestones. The overlying Morrowan (Lower Pennsylvanian) shales grade northward into a sandy facies consisting of interbedded dark-gray to black shales and lenticular sandstones. That part of the Upper Mississippian -Lower Pennsylvanian shale sequence that is correlated as the Barnett Shale consists of 200 to 350 ft of dark-gray to black shale with minor thin sandstones and minor thin limestones throughout most of its extent in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin. The overlying Morrowan (Lower Pennsylvanian) shales are subdivided into two stratal units, the lower Morrow shale and the upper Morrow shale. The lower Morrow shale consists of 200 to 350 ft of dark-gray to black marine shales and minor thin sandstones. The upper morrow shale consists of 100 to 800 ft dark-gray to black marine shales and minor thin sandstones.The Barnett Shale contains mature, organic-rich petroleum source rocks. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content ranges from 0.85 to 4.9 percent in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin. The kerogen population is dominantly gas prone but also appears to contain oil-prone types. The Barnett Shale is thermally mature throughout its extent in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin. A northwest-southeast trending fairway for Barnett shale gas exploration extends throughout the western portion of the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin. This fairway is defined by the most thermally mature source rocks with TOC contents greater than 2 percent.Exploratory drilling for shale gas has not yet taken place in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin.The lower and upper Morrow shales contain sufficient TOC to be considered source rocks in southeastern New Mexico and are thermally mature. The Morrow shales are less thermally mature than the deeper, underlying Barnett Shale.
Helium gas has been produced in New Mexico since 1943. Production has been from eight oil and gas fields located on the Four Corners Platform of northwestern New Mexico. Almost 950 MMCF helium have been produced from reservoirs of Permian, Pennsylvanian, Mississippian, and Devonian age on the Four Corners Platform in San Juan County In northwest New Mexico, elevated levels of helium in natural gases occur not only in Paleozoic reservoirs on the Four Corners Platform but also in Paleozoic reservoirs in the deeper parts of the San Juan Basin located east of the Four Corners Platform. The regional set of orthogonal faults that offset Precambrian basement throughout the deeper parts of the San Juan Basin may have acted as migration pathways that transmitted helium from its basement source into overlying Paleozoic reservoirs. Helium has not been extracted from produced gases in the New Mexico part of the Permian Basin where the concentration of helium in most reservoir gases is significantly less than 0.1 percent. However, gases with helium contents ranging from 0.3 to almost 1.0 percent occur in Pennsylvanian and Permian reservoirs along the northwest flank of the basin. The helium originated by radiogenic decay of uranium and thorium in Precambrian granitic rocks and migrated vertically into Pennsylvanian and Permian reservoirs through regional, high-angle, strike-slip faults. Known accumulations of helium-rich gases are located near these faults. In this area, lower and middle Paleozoic strata are only a few hundred feet thick, resulting in short vertical migration distances between the Precambrian source and helium-bearing reservoirs. Other basins and areas in New Mexico are characterized by helium-rich gases and are of significant exploratory interest. These areas include the Chupadera Mesa region of eastern Socorro and western Lincoln Counties in the central part of the state, the Tucumcari Basin in the east-central part of the state, and a wide region across Catron and southern Cibola Counties in the west-central part of the state. Elevated levels of helium are found in Pennsylvanian and Permian gases in these areas.
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