Recent Yucatan Seismic Survey Revealing a New Frontier Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

A broadband long-offset 2D seismic data acquired off the northern margin of the Yucatan Platform provides a new look at the hydrocarbon potential of the Yucatan salt basin and adjacent escarpment. Acquired in 2015 on a 10-km grid over an area of 185,000 km², the survey underwent prestack depth migration in 2017. Results show a variety of exploration opportunities with possible extensions of the contiguous productive fields in the eastern U.S. GoM and prolific areas in the Campeche salt basin to the southwest.

The Yucatan basin is a completely frontier area for exploration. The only wells drilled in the Yucatan 2D survey area are a few 1970s, shallow, Deep Sea Drilling Project boreholes. To understand the reservoir and source rock presence within the basin, regional sections connect the new survey area with nearby geological provinces of Campeche, Mexican Ridge, Perdido and eastern U.S. GOM including well ties located between 230 and 380 km outside the survey.

This high-quality 2D seismic survey reveals a diversity of play types, including structural and stratigraphic traps. Within the Late Jurassic to Cretaceous section, up-dip salt rollers related to basinward-dipping growth faults and down-dip compressional structures occur. An important analogue for this play is the Appomattox discovery in the eastern U.S. GoM where the main reservoir is the Oxfordian Norphlet. In the Cenozoic, the play types include salt diapirs with adjacent minibasins and pinch-outs as well as unconformity onlaps and turbidite channel and fan complexes. The Ram/Powell field, located offshore northern GoM, is an analogue for the turbidite channel and fan complex.

At the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, some seismic facies were identified along the escarpment as potential breccia deposits related to Chicxulub impact. This breccia is one of the most important reservoirs in the Mexican part of the GoM; e.g., the Cantarell field has high production rates from this breccia.

For hydrocarbon play assessment, a 2D petroleum system model (PSM) covering the seismic survey and surrounding areas was constructed based on wells from the nearby basins and the interpreted seismic data. The PSM results show that there are areas within the survey with good prospectivity. Oil seeps mapped from satellite data over the survey area confirm the hydrocarbon presence. PSM, together with the oil seep distribution, supports long-distance fluid migration charging plays and prospects, even on the Yucatan platform.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90323 ©2018 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 20-23, 2018