Mora-Glukstad, Miguel¹, Paul Martinez², Gerardo Diaz³, Estuardo Alvarez-Calderon² 
(1) Occidental Petroleum, Katy, TX 
(2) Occidental Petroleum, Houston, TX
(3) Occidental Petroleum, Lima, 

ABSTRACT: The Ultimate Frontier in the Peruvian Fold and Thrust Belt

Exploring in deformed terrains poses a series of technical, environmental and logistical issues. Occidental Petroleum have been exploring in the Peruvian Andes for many years. The area of interest, and the motive of this paper, is the Mountain front in the Central Peruvian Andes, East of the Huallaga basin. 
Block 21 (now relinquished) encompasses 2,023,381 Hectares with a topography ranging from 3,000 masl to 200 masl and “paramo” to tropical vegetation. No wells have been drilled in the block with exception of three wells drilled in the 50’s on surface anticlines in the southern part of the block. The only available seismic consists of tails of seismic campaigns outside and around the block. 
The entire area was re-mapped and samples were collected for geochemical analysis. Detailed structural analysis, using field data and extrapolating seismic data from the foreland into the mountain front, helped us define a series of tectonic domains with different hydrocarbons systems. Detailed geochemical sampling along the foothills, has been tied to a thorough re-evaluation of well data. 
Basin modeling in the bordering foreland has allowed us to re-define major exploratory concepts, not only for the foothills, but also for the Pachitea and Ucayali foreland basins. Leads have been mapped, and a new geological evolution for this part of the Andes is presented.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.