Abstract: Interesting Cuban Geological Locations for Petroleum Exploration, Maps and Catalogue

Linares, E.; Yero, M.; Hernández, I. - Ceinpet, Cuba

The experience of several years working with foreign companies raises the necessity of a guide to help and show the explorationist of those companies the majority of the interesting points within the limits and in the vicinity of the block they have contracted.

Three factors helped the authors in this work. First, more than 40% of the national territory had been mapped in detailed scale. Second, a considerable quantity of deep wells have been drilled for oil exploration and are distributed all over the country. Last is knowing the locale of great quantities of oil and gas seeps, asphalt mines, as well as sources of sulfurous waters. All these are complemented by the study of a vast bibliography that includes various books concerning Cuban Geology and hundreds of Geological Reports from different areas that cover practically all the surface of the Cuban territory. Additionally, numerous field trips were realized to collect samples of those places and verify geographic locations on the spot.

All this work of compiling information of the existing bibliography and obtaining new data in the terrain finally resulted in a data base containing information about five hundred localities of geological interest and two maps in 1:500,000 scale with a geological base where all these points are located. The database consists of forms for each one of the localities which groups seven items of important data for the locale and also for storing basic geologic characteristics and hydrocarbon show information that exists in the area of interest. The forms grouped in the database can be printed separately for a definite area that depends on the desires of the client or others who can access the information for their study.

In fact, the database groups the following items on each form: Locality, Geographic location, Access ways, Geological Object, Description of the object, Complementary information and Sources to get more information.

Both maps have been carried out over a formational geological base to scale of 1:500,000 representing different Tectonostratigraphic Units of outcrops all over the country such as Zaza, Remedios, Camajuaní, Placetas-Rosario, Organos and Esperanza TSU, and their corresponding cover. There also appears information about other rock groups such as the ophiolites, the evaporites and a little outcropping of exotic rocks, which date back from the Proterozoic. And lastly, the cover from Miocene to the Quaternary.

The first map groups superficial solid, liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon shows and sulphurous waters as well as all the known wells that present the same hydrocarbons or sulphurous water shows. The second map groups the localities of stratigraphical interest. These may be outcrops of possible source rocks, or rock outcrops that are known as reservoir rocks in other localities, like adjacent oil fields. There are also some deep wells drilled in interesting places and others that show some interesting stratigraphy, although the well does not have any hydrocarbon shows.

All the localities described in this work as well as the distribution of the tectono-stratigraphic units have not resulted from a passive compilation of data gathered through the study of numerous geological reports. The work contains the opinion of the authors and almost the totality of forms are reinterpretations of already known geological data.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90933©1998 ABGP/AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil