BLANKENSHIP, CYNTHIA L.¹, CLAUDIA RUIZ¹, EDUARDO MORENO¹, and TIMOTHY DODD^2
1BP Exploration Colombia
²BP Exploration Houston, TX

Abstract: Petroleum Systems of the Llanos Basin, Colombia-Where is the Remaining Potential?

The Llanos Basin of Colombia is a proven petroleum province in a fold and thrust belt/foreland basin setting. With three giant fields on production the question now is, where is the remaining potential of the basin, and will more giant fields be found?

The static elements of the Llanos petroleum systems; source, reservoir and seal, are generally understood. Less well understood are the dynamic aspects such as migration pathways, timing of migration, and the resultant distribution of petroleum volume, quality and phase. Integration of new geochemical analysis with our most recent work on timing of hydrocarbon generation with respect to structuring allows us to identify both new plays and the remaining potential of proven plays in the Llanos Basin.

Two of the giant discoveries, Cusiana and Cupiagua, are anticlinal traps in the foothills trend. Considerable potential still remains in this fold and thrust belt, including three undrilled regional structural culminations visible on the surface. These are currently interpreted as stacked anticlinal thrust sheets, each containing the main regional reservoirs.

In contrast to the foothills, structures in the foreland are subtle. The third giant field, Cano Limon, lies in this structural province. Two plays have been successfully pursued in the foreland-the Cano Limon transpressional play and a normal fault play just east of the foothills. A sequence stratigraphic and structural interpretation of the basin, coupled with an understanding of the dynamic hydrocarbon system, provides the basis for new play concepts in the largely underexplored foreland.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90928©1999 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas