--> Abstract: Reservoir Characterization and Hydrocarbon Implications of the Early Pliocene Deltaic Sedimentary Succession of the Columbus Channel, Trinidad, by Rene R. Winter and Ronald J. Steel; #90039 (2005)

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Reservoir Characterization and Hydrocarbon Implications of the Early Pliocene Deltaic Sedimentary Succession of the Columbus Channel, Trinidad

Rene R. Winter and Ronald J. Steel
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

The Plioceneā€“Pleistocene (PP) succession of the Columbus Basin, eastern offshore Trinidad is a prolific hydrocarbon province. A new stratigraphic framework correlating basinwide stacked, 4th/5th-order sequences of the PP shelf succession records the regional cyclic shelf transits of the PP Orinoco. This new framework has the potential to drive new play concepts and an improved understanding of the reservoir architecture that can sustain reserve growth as the current reservoir developments mature. Recent integration of well, outcrop and seismic data between the onshore Trinidad Southern Basin and offshore Columbus Channel is allowing reconstruction of the evolution of the Early Pliocene shelf margins as they accreted eastwards. The earliest Pliocene paleo-Orinoco shelf margin in the study area shows spectacular shelf-edge collapse, canyon development, and bypass of sediments into the deepwater basin. Data shows these processes to coincide with progradation and shoreline regression, followed by a time of significant transgression and westward backstepping of the delta. A second phase of early Pliocene regression brought the delta back to the shelf edge and initiated a new period of vigorous shelf-margin growth. This phase of shelf-margin growth was accompanied by significant growth-fault development, but apparently little canyon generation. Integrated seismic, well and outcrop data along the southern regions of Trinidad onshore and offshore will enable a more detailed understanding of the role that the paleo-Orinco played in Orinoco Shelf Margin development.

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