--> Abstract: Deep Water Stratigraphic Plays Along an Oblique Rifted Margin: Frontier Exploration in the Brazil Equatorial Margin, by Richard S. Tozer; #90204 (2014)

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Deep Water Stratigraphic Plays Along an Oblique Rifted Margin: Frontier Exploration in the Brazil Equatorial Margin

Richard S. Tozer
Ph.D., Exploration Geologist, BP Brazil Exploration

Abstract

In the last decade, there have been a number of significant oil discoveries along the equatorial margin of Africa where Upper Cretaceous deep water fan reservoirs have been charged by a prolific Middle Cretaceous marine source rock. More recently, the same petroleum system has been proven on the conjugate margin offshore French Guyana. It is also believed to extend along the contiguous equatorial margin of Brazil where legacy wells drilled on the shelf provide good evidence for source rock presence. Recent activity confirms industry interest in the frontier basins in this area. Along the southern margin of the Barreirinhas Basin, seismic reflection data suggest that Upper Cretaceous deep water fan reservoirs are present in a favorable trapping geometry where they on-lap the Romanche Fracture Zone. In the Foz d'Amazonas Basin, on the north side of the Amazon cone, the on-lap edge of the Upper Cretaceous reservoir deep water channels and fans can be clearly defined using seismic data. Both are where the reservoir on-laps the Strakhov fracture zone and the adjacent passive margin to the south. Initial analysis indicates that both basins have major potential. This will be reassessed using 3D seismic data before the first exploration wells are drilled in 2016.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90204 © AAPG Geoscience Technology Workshop, Stratigraphic Traps and Play Concepts in Deepwater Settings, May 14-15, 2014, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil