Monthly Luncheon

Speaker: Peter Flaig

Company: Research Scientist/Associate Professor, BEG/The University of Texas at Austin

Re-evaluating paleoenvironments and depositional system evolution in the Strawn Group in Stonewall and King Counties and assessing outcrop analogs.

The Strawn is an extremely important oil/gas producing interval in Texas. Since 2015, 840 wells have been completed in the Strawn, and those wells have produced 17.3 MMbbl of oil and 29.3 bcf of gas. Hence, the State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery Program (STARR) at the Bureau of Economic Geology has several active projects investigating Strawn reservoirs involving both students and researchers. The purpose of these projects is to refine Strawn paleoenvironmental interpretations and improve our understanding of depositional system evolution to reduce risk for industry.In this talk, I will discuss ongoing STARR research along the Eastern Shelf of the Permian Basin in eastern Stonewall and King counties. From the Katz Field through the Anne Tandy and Bateman Ranch Fields the Strawn transitions from primarily siliciclastic deposits to mixed siliciclastics/carbonates to predominantly carbonates. This regional transition is due to the presence of a localized siliciclastic fairway that distributes sediment unevenly across the shelf. I will provide an update on our recent work in the Strawn in this region, discuss lithofacies trends, and propose autogenic vs allogenic forcings that may control regional facies trends.

There are significant advantages in providing outcrop analogs for complex reservoirs systems. We are currently exploring the Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Bug Scuffle “Limestone” found along extensive outcrops of the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, New Mexico as an outcrop analog for the Strawn. In laterally extensive bluffs near Alamogordo a siliciclastic fairway is exposed between carbonate-dominated intervals along a shallow shelf/ramp. Although this research is in the initial stages I will examine potential similarities in facies trends between the Bug Scuffle and Strawn and discuss the direction of future STARR research in the Sacramento Mountains.

Download the February 2025 Abilene Geological Society Newsletter.

Members and guests are welcome. Meal prices are $15 with or without a reservation but reservations are encouraged!