Origin of helium and nitrogen in the Panhandle-Hugoton field of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, United States

摘要

Helium and nitrogen variations in Panhandle-Hugoton field (PHF) gases are products of interaction between hydrocarbon gas from the Anadarko basin and at least two water masses with dissolved nitrogen and helium. The two most distinct water masses are from the Palo Duro basin (highest He/N-2) and the Hugoton embayment (lowest He/N-2). Geochemical data indicate several hundred million years of helium generation in porous rock. Helium migrated to the gas by diffusion through water-saturated rock and by west-to-east water flow.