Oil and gas exploration in the Raton Basin

“…Sedimentary rocks reach a maximum combined thickness of between 14,000 and 20,000 feet in the Raton basin (Baltz, 1965;Roberts and others, 1976) and 12,700 feet in the Las Vegas basin (Baltz, 1965). The sedimentary section in these basins is largely comprised of Pennsylvanian (about 5,500 feet maximum, Baltz, 1965;Roberts and others, 1976), Permian (about 2,000 feet maximum, Dixon, 1967;Roberts and others, 1976), Cretaceous (4,100 feet maximum, Molenaar, 1983), and Tertiary (5,000 feet maximum, Speer, 1976) rocks. The Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian rocks in the Rowe-Mora basin consist of dark basinal shale in the lower part of the Pennsylvanian System (Morrowan, Atokan, lower Desmoinesian) which are flanked on the west by nonmarine arkosic sandstones and on the east by shelf carbonate rocks (Roberts and others, 1976;Casey, 1980) whereas the upper part of the Pennsylvanian System and the lower part of the Permian System (Wolfcampian) are represented by nearshore carbonate rocks flanked on the north, west, and east by arkosic sandstone and conglomerate (Roberts and others, 1976).…”

Section: Raton and Las Vegas Basinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A nearly complete section of Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks is preserved in the Raton basin•, but in the Las Vegas basin only the lower part of the Cretaceous section is present. The majority of the Cretaceous rocks in both basins are shale and sandstone deposited in offshore marine, nearshore marine, paludal, and alluvial plain environments, along or near an easterly prograding shoreline (Speer, 1976).…”

Section: Raton and Las Vegas Basinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thick, thermally mature sequences of Upper Cretaceous gray marine shale, carbonaceous shale, and coal are present in the Albuquerque basin and undoubtedly these rocks have been the source of oil and gas shows reported in the Cretaceous section (Black, 1979a). Oil and gas shows in Cretaceous rocks of the Espanola (Black, 1979b) and Raton (Speer, 1976) basins were probably generated from gray offshore marine shale and paludal carbonaceous shale beds.…”

Section: Upper Cretaceous Shale and Coalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shallow marine sandstone units in the Upper Cretaceous Trinidad Sandstone and the Lower and Upper Cretaceous Dakota Sandstones have the best potential as petroleum reservoirs in the Raton and Las Vegas basins (Baltz, 1965;Speer, 1976). Shelf carbonates of the Pennsylvanian Madera Limestone and nearshore marine conglomeratic sandstones of the Sandia Formation may also be good reservoir units in the Las Vegas basin (Baltz, 1965;Foster and Grant, 1974).…”

Section: Reservoirs and Trapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Petroleum potential of wilderness lands, New Mexico

Ryder¹

1983

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On the basis of in-depth geologic framework and petroleum geology studies, the oil and gas potential of Wilderness Lands in New Mexico is rated qualitatively on a scale from high to zero. A high rating is assigned to Wilderness Lands that are located near or along the projected trend of hydrocarbon production and that have all the geologic attributes of the producing area. A medium rating is assigned to Wilderness Lands that have all the attributes, including shows, of an oil and gas producing area but presently lack commercial production. In contrast, low, low to zero,.and zero ratings are assigned to Wilderness Lands that have few or no attributes of an oil and gas producing area. Usually a zero rating is reserved for regions having autochthonous igneous and metamorphic rocks at or near the surfa~e.• The Wilderness Lands in New Mexico are grouped into 18 clusters, each containing one or more tracts that have the same or similar geologic characteristics and the same hydrocarbon potential. Of the 2,676,856 acres of Wilderness Lands in New Mexico the potential acreage can be summarized as follows: high potential, 96.6 thousand acres; medium potential, 115.3 thousand acres; low potential, 1,237.3 thousand acres; low to zero potential, 158 thousand acres; and zero potential, 1,069.6 thousand acres.

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