Stratigraphic Interpretation and Reservoir Implications of the Arbuckle Group (Cambrian-Ordovician) using 3D Seismic, Osage County, Oklahoma

The Arbuckle Group in northeastern Oklahoma consists of multiple carbonate formations, along with several relatively thin sandstone units. The group is a part of the “Great American Carbonate Bank” of the mid-continent and can be found regionally as far east as the Arkoma Basin in Arkansas, and as far west as the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma. The Arbuckle is part of the craton-wide Sauk sequence, which is both underlain and overlain by regional unconformities. Arbuckle is not deposited directly on top of a source rock. In order for reservoirs within the Arbuckle to become charged with hydrocarbons, they must be juxtaposed against source rocks or along migration pathways. Inspired by the petroleum potential of proximal Arbuckle reservoirs and the lack of local stratigraphic understanding, this study aims to subdivide Arbuckle stratigraphy and identify porosity networks using 3D seismic within the study area of western Osage County, Oklahoma. These methods and findings can then be applied to petroleum exploration in Cambro-Ordovician carbonates in other localities. My research question is: Can the Arbuckle in SW Osage County be stratigraphically subdivided based on 3D seismic characteristics? This paper outlines the depositional environment of the Arbuckle, synthesizes previous studies and examines the Arbuckle as a petroleum system in Northeastern Oklahoma. The investigation includes an interpretation of intra-Arbuckle unconformities, areas of secondary porosity (specifically, sequence boundaries), and hydrocarbon potential of the Arbuckle Group using 3D seismic data interpretation with a cursory analysis of cored intervals