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Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew W. Totten / Ness County, Kansas is situated along the western flank of the Central Kansas uplift, and has been an active center of oil exploration since the 1920’s. It currently ranks fourth among Kansas counties in oil production, largely from Mississippian-age carbonate reservoirs. Some production has been realized from lower Pennsylvanian-age carbonate formations, although the distribution of these reservoirs appears sporadic. The goals of this study were to develop an exploration model that predicts the development of reservoir conditions within the Marmatonage Fort Scott Limestone. A two-township area was studied to examine relationships between production rates and subsurface variations. No core was available through the Fort Scott, hence drill cuttings were thin-sectioned and examined under a petrographic microscope to see details of porosity type not easily visible under a binocular microscope. Production appears to be defined by stratigraphic variations in porosity controlled by original depositional environment. The best wells are within an oolitic limestone, with subsequent development of secondary, vuggy porosity. These conditions occur in bands along the Mississippian paleo-topographic highs. I interpret these bands to be ancient ooid shoals, with geometries and scales analogous to those previously reported from Lansing/Kansas City reservoirs in Russell County, Kansas. This study provides insights into production trends within the Fort Scott Limestone, and should be included during exploration in Ness County, Kansas.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Matthew Totten / Due to their high resolution and established success rates, 3D seismic surveys have become one of the most important tools in many hydrocarbon exploration programs. Basic interpretation of seismic reflectors alone, however, may result in inaccurate predictions of subsurface geology. Historically, seismic attributes have played a particularly important role in the characterization of the lithological and petrophysical properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs in Kansas channel fill lithofacies. Integration of an analysis based on post-stack seismic attributes may drastically reduce the chances of drilling in unsuitable locations. Previous theses have focused on establishing a suitable 3D seismic attribute analysis workflow for use in the determination of hydrocarbon production potential in areas of Ness County, Kansas, USA (Abbas, 2009; Phillip, 2011). By applying a similar workflow in the analysis of additional 3D seismic and well log data obtained from a nearby area in Ness County, and comparing those results to existing borehole and production data, this study seeks to test the hypothesis that seismic attribute analysis is a crucial component in the delineation of heterogeneous reservoir stratigraphy in Kansas lithologies. Time-structure maps, in addition to time slices of several 3D seismic attributes including amplitude attenuation, acoustic impedance, and event continuity all seem to indicate that five previously drilled dry wells within the study area were outside the boundary of a meandering, Cherokee sandstone body of potential reservoir quality. Additionally, comparisons of the results of this research to previous studies conducted in Ness County have provided an opportunity to assess, and potentially contribute to, paleodepositional interpretations made through the utilization of a similar workflow (Raef et al., in press). The results of this study seem to support a broadly NE-SW trending meandering channel system, which is in agreement with the interpretations of Raef et al., and the findings of Ramaker (2009).

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Abdelmoneam Raef / This research presents a workflow integrating several post-stack seismic attributes to assist in understanding the development history of Weirman Field, Ness County, KS. This study contributes to shaping future drilling plans by establishing a workflow combining analysis of seismic attributes and well cuttings to locate a channel fill zone of better reservoir quality, and to highlight reservoir boundaries due to compartmentalization. In this study, I have successfully outlined a fluvial channel, which is expected to be significantly different in terms of petrophysical properties. The Pennsylvanian aged Cherokee sandstones that potentially comprise channel fill lithofacies, in this study, have been linked to oil production throughout the state of Kansas. It is important to understand channel sandstones when evaluating drilling prospects, because of their potential as an oil reservoir and unpredictable shapes and locations. Since their introduction in the 1970s, seismic attributes have become an essential part of lithological and petrophysical characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Seismic attributes can correlate to and help reveal certain subsurface characteristics and specific geobodies that cannot be distinguished otherwise. Extracting and analyzing acoustic impedance, root-mean-square amplitude and amplitude attenuation, guided by a time window focused on the top of the Mississippian formation, resulted in an understanding of the key seismic channel-facies framework and helped to explain some of the disappointing drilling results at Weirman Field. To form a better understanding of these seismic attributes, this study combined certain attributes and overlayed them in partially transparent states in order to summarize and better visualize the resulting data. A preliminary study of spectral decomposition, which was introduced in the late 1990s, was preformed, and a more in-depth study of this multi-resolution attribute is recommended for future study of this particular field. This study also recommends integrating the revealed compartmentalization boundary and the seismic channel-facies framework in future drilling plans of Weirman Field.