BASIN ANALYSIS AND PETROLEUM SYSTEM CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING, INTERIOR SALT BASINS, CENTRAL AND EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO

The principal research effort for Year 1 of the project is data compilation and the determination of the tectonic and depositional histories of the North Louisiana Salt Basin. In the first three (3) to six (6) months of Year 1, the research focus is on data compilation and the remainder of the year the emphasis is on the tectonic and depositional histories of the basin. No major problems have been encountered to date, and the project is on schedule. The principal objectives of the project are to develop through basin analysis and modeling the concept that petroleum systems acting in a basin can be identified through basin modeling and to demonstrate that the information and analysis resulting from characterizing and modeling of these petroleum systems in the North Louisiana Salt Basin and the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin can be used in providing a more reliable and advanced approach for targeting stratigraphic traps and specific reservoir facies within a geologic system and in providing a refined assessment of undiscovered and underdeveloped reservoirs and associated oil and gas resources