Abstract Sandstones of the Upper Permian Bell Canyon Formation were deposited by turbidity currents in a basin-floor setting. The sandstones were deposited in a channel-levee system that terminated in broad lobes; overbank splays filled topographically low inter-channel areas. Diagenesis and reservoir quality of the sandstones were examined in cores from East Ford field, which is undergoing a CO 2 flood. Porosity and permeability are controlled by calcite cement, mainly concentrated in layers ranging from 5 to 40 cm in thickness. In a new infill well, initial production was of a high gas volume that contained a high concentration of CO 2 from the interval beneath several low-permeability, calcite-cemented layers. The CO 2 was most likely from an injector well and was trapped below the calcite layers. Geophysical log correlations support the interpretation that some calcite layers are laterally continuous over a distance of at least 300 m, causing vertical compartmentalization in the reservoir.