Petroleum System of the South-Eastern Portion of the Maracaibo Basin: Ceuta-North Andean Flank: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The South Eastern portion of the Maracaibo basin encompasses a giant field (Ceuta) that carries ultimate recoverable oil reserves of more than 2.5 billion barrels and areas with little or no drilling. Oil in the area has been found in Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments and, in seeps along the North Andean Flank, where oil-source rock correlation based on biomarker fingerprints relates the existing crude to the Cretaceous La Luna source rock. A main tectonic constituent of the area is represented by the Merida arch, controlling the sedimentation until the end of the Cretaceous passive margin. Also, the Middle Eocone rifting and its associated structures have determined important thickness variations of deltaic eocene prograding sediments. A significant sequence boundary is associated to compression, uplifting, erosion or non deposition from the late Eocene to the early Miocene. A gradual tilting towards the southeast developed as a consequence of the Andean foredeep in the southern area. Heat flow field is found to be different from one area to another, as given by estimations taking into account well temperature measurements, rock maturity and the calculation of thermal conductivities of the rock formations as a function of their lithologies, porosities and temperature. Kinetic modelling ofmore » the hydrocarbon generation indicates a complex history starting in the northeastern area during the Eocene with the generation of oil and still ongoing nowadays in the north Andean Flank with the generation of gas.« less