--> Combining Sea Surface Oil Slicks and Seismic Imagery to Identify Working Hydrocarbon Plays in Offshore Mexico

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Combining Sea Surface Oil Slicks and Seismic Imagery to Identify Working Hydrocarbon Plays in Offshore Mexico

A. Pandey, P. Hargreaves, K. Rodriguez and M. Saunders

Geosciences, Spectrum Geo, Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom

September 8, 2016 Thursday 9:00 A.M. AAPG/SEG International Conference & Exhibition, Cancun, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract

Mexico's largest discovery, The Cantarell Complex, was discovered after geologists investigated reports from fishermen of oil floating on the sea surface. Today sea surface slicks can be charted over large areas from observations of satellite imagery. Here we describe the geologic components responsible for sea surface slick patterns observed in the Cantarell-Yucatan offshore province.

3 Groups of slick trends are identified:

  • -Slick clusters found in the Cantarell region; the persistent slicks here are known to be connected to the Cantarell Discoveries.
  • -North Western Isthmus salt province. With a distribution similar to the Cantarell, these slicks are also naturally occurring oil seeps, and provide strong evidence that the Cantarell oil play can be extended westwards too into the Campeche Basin region.
  • -North of the Campeche Basin, (the Sigsbee Knolls), where tight clusters of many oil slicks have been interpreted.
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    It is clear that the seep clusters are related to salt diapirism, some of which have been key to the creation of 4-way dip closures responsible for many of the key discoveries offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to date.

    Attention is drawn to the Sigsbee Knolls group of slick trends- These indicate that a thermogenic hydrocarbon system is present in the north Campeche basin, is mature for oil, and is generating oil in large volumes. Geochemical sampling from the Chapopote salt diapir indicates that breach the seabed reveals that at least some of these oils are of Mid Jurassic age (Naehr et. al, 2007) which places their source beneath the late Jurassic Isthmus salt complex. Based on this inference we propose the presence of a pre-salt hydrocarbon play in the North Campeche Basin.

    Absence of sea surface slicks above stable sectors of salt canopy supports this view. If the hydrocarbon source was post salt then it would be reasonable to expect that oil seepage would occur not only against the flanks of the salt diapirs, but elsewhere in the basin where major or minor faulting cross cut post salt facies to provide migration pathways towards the sea floor. Sea surface slicks only appear where strong diapirism causes collapse of the salt, allowing for a pathway from beneath the salt towards the sea floor. This suggests that this play fairway could persist for a large area, across the Campeche / Yucatan deep water.

    AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90260 © 2016 AAPG/SEG International Conference & Exhibition, Cancun, Mexico, September 6-9, 2016