Morrow-Springer Pressures of the Anadarko Basin

Abstract

The Morrow-Springer pressures in the Anadarko Basin have become a major factor in the exploration and exploitation of the Basin's major pre-Permian gas reserve. The tectonics affecting the Morrow-Springer formations during and after deposition of the sediments may be partly responsible for the abnormally low and high pressures in their respective areas. Isopach maps of the Morrow-Spriinger indicate the major divisions of pressure gradient in the formations. BHP gradient maps can be interpreted in areas where control is available with knowledge of the thickness of unit to be penetrated and the amount of reservoir rock anticipated. To date 5000 to 6000 feet of Morrow-Springer has been penetrated in the 'deep' basin. BHP's to 10,000 psi can be predicted however extensive geophysical and geological research are required to resolve the complex south flank of the Anadarko Basin with greater BHP's. INTRODUCTION The Morrow-Springer pressures in the Anadarko Basin have become a major factor in the exploration and exploitation of the Basin's major pre-Permian gas reserve. In the fifties and early sixties little was known of the pressure system of these formations and exploration had reached 'boom' proportion as the drillbit continued to discover gas in the Lower Pennsylvanian. Figure I illustrates the Anadarko Basin in its tectonic location, bounded on the south by the buried Amarillo-Wichita Mountains; on the west by the Sierra Grande Uplift; on the northwest by a minor arch in Pennsylvanian time, the Las Animas Arch, which we like to use as the separation between the Anadarko Basin and the Denver Basin; on the north by the Central Kansas Uplift; and on the northeast by the Nemaha Range.