Exploring Deep Water Fans in Falklands Basins

Phil Richards¹, Ian Duncan², Colin Phipps³, Jan Grzywacz⁴, and Giles Pickering^4
1 British Geological Survey, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
² Desire Petroleum, Malvern, United Kingdom
³ Desire Petroleum,
⁴ RPS Hydrosearch, Woking, United Kingdom

Six wells were drilled in the North Falkland Basin in 1998. Live oil was recovered at surface, but the only tested play exhibited difficulties of charge caused by poor migration into the targeted reservoir interval, which lies above the regional seal. Recent exploration has focussed on identifying reservoir systems directly connected with the mature source rock zone. New 3D data has identified several fan systems prograding off the adjacent Palaeozoic platform, bringing clean sands into direct contact with mature source rocks. The fans are fed by major feeder channels and display numerous DHIs. They are currently located in shallow water (<350m) but prograded into a deepwater (~500m) early Cretaceous lake system. No wells have been drilled in the South Falkland Basin or Falkland Plateau Basin, but new seismic surveys have been targeted over Mesozoic fan systems currently in water depths of >1000m. These early Cretaceous marine fan systems provide one of the many targets available for drilling in this totally untested basin.

Analogues for both sets of fan systems are provided from several producing fields from different mature oil provinces, highlighting the potential to be tested in these Falklands fans.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005