Kern River Formation

E649644

The Kern River Formation is a major oil-bearing geologic unit in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley, known for its thick, shallow heavy-oil reservoirs that have been extensively developed using thermal recovery methods.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Kern River Formation canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf geologic formation ⓘ
sedimentary rock unit ⓘ
associatedOilField Fruitvale Oil Field ⓘ
Kern River Oil Field ⓘ
Ponds Oil Field ⓘ
Round Mountain Oil Field ⓘ
basin San Joaquin Basin ⓘ
containsResource bitumen-bearing sandstones ⓘ
heavy oil ⓘ
petroleum ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
depositionalEnvironment alluvial plain ⓘ
fluvial ⓘ
depthCharacteristic shallow subsurface ⓘ
developmentMethod cyclic steam stimulation ⓘ
steam flooding ⓘ
steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) (limited use) ⓘ
thermal enhanced oil recovery ⓘ
discoveryAsOilReservoir late 19th century ⓘ
economicImportance major oil-bearing unit in California ⓘ
significant contributor to California heavy-oil production ⓘ
geologicAge Pliocene ⓘ
late Miocene to Pliocene ⓘ
hydrocarbonProduction onshore ⓘ
knownFor extensive thermal recovery development ⓘ
thick, shallow heavy-oil reservoirs ⓘ
lithology claystone ⓘ
conglomerate ⓘ
sandstone ⓘ
siltstone ⓘ
locatedIn California ⓘ
Kern County, California ⓘ
linked to: Kern County

southern San Joaquin Valley ⓘ
linked to: San Joaquin Valley
namedAfter Kern River ⓘ
operatorPresence Chevron (historically major operator in Kern River Oil Field) ⓘ
overlies Etchegoin Formation ⓘ
partOf San Joaquin Valley stratigraphic sequence ⓘ
porosityType intergranular porosity ⓘ
primaryLithology fluvial sandstone ⓘ
province California Central Valley ⓘ
linked to: Central Valley
region San Joaquin Valley ⓘ
reservoirType shallow heavy-oil reservoir ⓘ
structuralSetting foredeep basin fill ⓘ
thicknessCharacteristic locally very thick ⓘ
typicalOilAPIGravity heavy oil ⓘ
typicalOilViscosity high viscosity ⓘ
underlies Pleistocene deposits ⓘ
Quaternary alluvium ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Kern River Oil Field → mainProducingFormation → Kern River Formation ⓘ