BEARDEN, BENNETT L., ERNEST A. MANCINI, T. MARKHAM PUCKETT, and BRIAN J. PANETTA , Center for Sedimentary Basin Studies and Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

The Mississippi Interior Salt Basin (MISB) is the most productive sedimentary basin in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico region and ranks as one of the more important petroleum provinces in North America for oil and gas accumulations. Regional and local reservoirs in this basinal area have produced approximately 2 billion bbls of oil and over 7 Tcf of gas. Three major petroleum plays in and along the margins of the MISB have been identified. These include the: (1) MISB anticline play in the basin proper; (2) the regional peripheral fault trend play along the northern margin of the basin and approximating the updip limit of salt deposition; and (3) the basement ridge play updip of the northern margin of the salt basin. The MISB anticline play contains nine regional reservoirs, three local reservoirs, and two potential reservoirs. The regional peripheral fault trend play includes two regional reservoirs, four local reservoirs and one potential reservoir. The basement ridge play contains four local reservoirs and one potential reservoir. The most prospective stratigraphic sections for continued exploration are the Cretaceous intervals especially in east-central Mississippi where large sandstone depocenters are adjacent to the deep basinal area. The key to continued successful exploration in the MISI3 will be delineation of petroleum traps associated with salt movement and recognition of favorable lithofacies through sequence stratigraphic analysis.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90908©2000 GCAGS, Houston, Texas