Paper: Geology And Producing Formations Characteristic Of Southeast New Mexico

The Permian Basin is one of the major hydrocarbon producing provinces in the United States. It produces approximately 22% of the nation's oil and substantial amounts of gas. Geographically, it covers southeastern New Mexico and much of West Texas. This paper will concentrate on the New Mexico portion of the Basin in an effort to provide the engineer with a basic review of the geological features and reservoir characteristics of the area. There are many subprovinces in this large basin which affected the formation of reservoir rock and the accumulation of hydrocarbons. An understanding of the origin of these subprovinces should greatly aid the engineer's efforts to develop new reserves and improve recovery from existing reservoirs. Shown in Figure 1 are the major geological features (or subprovinces) of the area. These are the Central Basin Platform, the Delaware Basin, Eddy Shelf, Northwest Shelf and Pedernal Land Mass. All but the Pedernal Land Mass are major producing areas. Each has its own structural and depositional characteristics which resulted in distinct reservoir properties and hydrocarbon accumulation. Each of the features will be discussed in some detail.