Abstract
The petroleum geological features of hydrocarbon source rocks in the Oriente Basin in Ecuador are studied in detail to determine the potential of shale gas resources in the basin. The favorable shale gas layer in the vertical direction is optimized by combining logging identification and comprehensive geological analysis. The thickness in this layer is obtained by logging interpretation in the basin. The favorable shale gas accumulation area is selected by referring to thickness and depth data. Furthermore, the shale gas resource amount of the layer in the favorable area is calculated using the analogy method. Results show that among the five potential hydrocarbon source rocks, the lower Napo Formation is the most likely shale gas layer. The west and northwest zones, which are in the deep-sea slope and shelf sedimentary environments, respectively, are the favorable areas for shale gas accumulation. The favorable sedimentary environment formed thick black shale that is rich in organic matter. The black shale generated hydrocarbon, which migrated laterally to the eastern shallow water shelf to form numerous oil fields. The result of the shale gas resource in the two favorable areas, as calculated by the analogy method, is 55,500 × 108 m3. This finding shows the high exploration and development potential of shale gas in the basin.
Highlights
The Oriente Basin is a foreland basin in the transition zone between the tectonically active Cordillera region and the stable Brazil–Guiana Shield (Christophoul et al 2002)
The petroleum geological features of hydrocarbon source rocks in the Oriente Basin in Ecuador are studied in detail to determine the potential of shale gas resources in the basin
For the Oriente Basin, shale gas remains in the early stages of exploration, and information is extremely limited
Summary
The Oriente Basin is a foreland basin in the transition zone between the tectonically active Cordillera region and the stable Brazil–Guiana Shield (Christophoul et al 2002). One idea assumes that the main hydrocarbon source rocks of the basin (potential shale reservoir) are the Cretaceous group Napo marine shale and carbonate (Xie et al 2010; Edited by Jie Hao. Dashwood and Abbotts 1990). The general perspective is that the oil and gas are generated from the Napo marine shale in the north and Santiago Formation in the south and east of the basin. Logging interpretation results are combined with seismic analysis results to study the characteristics of target shale thickness and determine the reasons for thickness variation. In this manner, the most favorable shale gas accumulation blocks are identified, and their resources are calculated
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