Abstract
Downhole temperature measurements from six wells in the vicinity of an offshore Louisiana salt dome show increasingly higher temperatures with decreasing distance from the dome. We have analyzed this temperature distribution taking into account the effects of lithologic variations, overpressuring and salt dome geometry. Temperatures calculated using a steady-state thermal conduction numerical model are in agreement with measured values. The implication is that the thermal conductivity contrast between salt and surrounding sands and shales can produce all of the observed temperature anomaly; no other heat transfer mechanism, such as fluid flow, is required. The magnitude of the temperature increase induced by the salt dome, up to ≈30°C, may cause a substantial increase in the hydrocarbon maturation rate.
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