Oil-Finding Strategy for the Warsaw Limestone (Meramecian) of Warren County, Kentucky

KUEHN, KENNETH W., Western Kentucky University, Department of Geography and Geology, Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576

In Warren County, Kentucky, the petroleum producing Waulsortian mound facies reach 30 ft in thickness, average 10-14% porosity, and are encountered at a depth of 850-900 ft. The necessary lithology is a coarse biosparrudite (grainstone) whose distribution is areally patchy, but parallels the northeasterly depositional strike. Porosity in this lithology is intergranular and vugular.
The better wells are sited in areas where the grainstones have been overprinted by gentle anticlines. These plunge approximately 75 ft/mi to the northeast, their limbs dip approximately 120 ft/mi, and they gradually die-out upward in the section. Overpressuring encountered at some locations has led to the integration of secondary structural elements with a depositional model in order to understand reservoir compartmentalization and fracture sourcing. An integrated and successful exploration strategy for the Warsaw Limestone has been developed through analysis of more than 100 well-logs, associated cuttings, and photoanalysis of high-altitude color infrared imagery (CIR) of the region.

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