Petrography and Biostratigraphy of #101 Las Cañas & Mesita #1 Cores, Golden Lane/Poza Rica Trend, Mexico

Paul R. Krutak
P. Krutak Geoservices International, Rye, CO

Petrographic analysis of two cores (Cañas #101 and Mesita #1) from the Golden Lane (Faja del Oro)/Poza Rica oil fields (Cañas and Mesa Cerrada) along the Tuxpan Platform, Mexico reveals that Lower/Middle Cretaceous reefs developed along the margin of the Platform at this time. One facies in this complex (the El Abra Limestones) contains abundant rudists, corals, and benthic/planktic foraminifers. Thin sections cut from the #101 Cañas cores (Cores 1-4; 6-7; 9-11; 13-17) demonstrate the following petrographic trends: #1-foraminiferal mudstone; #2-angular quartz in foraminiferal mudstone; #3-chert overlain by foraminiferal ooze; #4-Cuneolina sp. and miliolid foraminifers; #6-Barkerina barkerensis (Albian); #7- Dictyoconus sp. with gastropods and spar cement; #9-bitumen with dogtooth spar and bryozoa; #10-bryozoans with moldic porosity; #11-pelletoidal boundstone with limestone clasts and rim cement; #13-corals and meniscus cement in interparticle porosity; #14-oolitic grainstone with oil stains along stylolites; #15-rudists in oil shale with metamorphic quartz clasts; #16-lithic arenite with hematite cement; and #17-subarkose with granite fragments and angular quartz. The other core (Mesita #1-Cores 2, 4 and 5) exhibits these variations: #2-Cuneolina sp. with spar cement; #4-orbulinid foraminifers and rudists; and #5-Dictyoconus sp. with spar cement. The thin sections from the #101 Las Cañas and Mesita #1 cores allow insight into a portion of the giant Pimienta-Tamabra (!) petroleum system in the Tampico/Misantla Basin, Mexico. The total reserves of this system are ~ 66.3 BBO and 103.7 TCF of natural gas. This is ~ 836 BBOE.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90078©2008 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas