The principal research effort for Year 2 of the project has been petroleum system characterization and modeling. Understanding the burial, thermal maturation, and hydrocarbon expulsion histories of the strata in the onshore interior salt basins of the North Central and Northeastern Gulf of Mexico areas is important in hydrocarbon resource assessment. The underburden and overburden rocks in these basins and subbasins are a product of their rift-related geohistory. Petroleum source rock analysis and initial thermal maturation and hydrocarbon expulsion modeling indicated that an effective regional petroleum source rock in the onshore interior salt basins and subbasins, the North Louisiana

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States

The principal research effort for Year 3 of the project is basin modeling and petroleum system identification, comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. In the first six (6) months of Year 3, the research focus is on basin modeling and petroleum system identification and the remainder of the year the emphasis is on the comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. No major problems have been encountered to date, and the project is on schedule.

The principal research effort for Year 1 of the project is data compilation and petroleum system identification. The research focus for the first nine (9) months of Year 1 is on data compilation and for the remainder of the year the emphasis is on petroleum system identification.iv

The principal research effort for Year 3 of the project is basin modeling and petroleum system identification, comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. In the first six (6) months of Year 3, the research focus is on basin modeling and petroleum system identification and the remainder of the year the emphasis is on the comparative basin evaluation and resource assessment. No major problems have been encountered to date, and the project is on schedule.iii