HYDROCARBON ACCUMULATION MODELS IN GULF OF MEXICO BASIN AND MAIN CONTROLLING FACTORS

As one of the richest provinces of oil and gas accumulation in the world, the Gulf of Mexico Basin has attracted great attention from international companies for decades. Devotes have been made by various petroleum geologists to study the accumulation characteristics. This paper studies hydrocarbon accumulation models in Gulf of Mexico Basin and its main controlling factors based on the large number of previous research in the basin. The study shows that the hydrocarbon accumulations in Gulf of Mexico Basin can be grouped into three models: Mesozoic reef facies accumulation, Cenozoic snap-anticline delta accumulation, and overturned accumulation. The hydrocarbon accumulation in the Gulf of Mexico Basin depends upon various factors, such as the distribution of hydrocarbon source rocks, the combination of reservoir and cap rocks, and deposits and salt rock, are all very important to hydrocarbon accumulation in Gulf of Mexico Basin.