{"title":"Overview of the exploration potential of offshore Argentina – insight from new seismic interpretations","authors":"Steve DeVito, H. Kearns","doi":"10.1144/petgeo2020-132","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Argentina's offshore sedimentary basins cover a vast area on one of the widest continental margins on the planet, yet they remain underexplored today. Previous exploration drilling has failed to encounter commercial volumes of hydrocarbons, in part due to the poor seismic imaging of legacy 1960s–1990s 2D seismic data, and to the majority of wells being drilled on structural highs outside of the source rock kitchens. In this study, we reviewed 52 000 km of recently acquired (2017–2018) regional 2D long-offset seismic data with broadband pre-stack time (PSTM) and depth migration (PSDM) processing. We identified five major structural domains with hydrocarbon prospectivity on the Northern Margin of Argentina and four on the Southern Margin, and the presence of previously unseen structural and stratigraphic traps involving sequences assigned to proven regional source rocks and reservoirs in Permian, Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. The source and reservoir rocks, petroleum systems, and play types present in the deepwater of the undrilled Argentina Basin represent a true frontier for hydrocarbon exploration. Pseudo relief attribute seismic displays and amplitude v. angle (AVA) analysis are demonstrated to be valuable tools in predicting the stratigraphy of the basins. A new framework for understanding the oil and gas prospectivity of the study area is presented.","PeriodicalId":49704,"journal":{"name":"Petroleum Geoscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Petroleum Geoscience","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2020-132","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Argentina's offshore sedimentary basins cover a vast area on one of the widest continental margins on the planet, yet they remain underexplored today. Previous exploration drilling has failed to encounter commercial volumes of hydrocarbons, in part due to the poor seismic imaging of legacy 1960s–1990s 2D seismic data, and to the majority of wells being drilled on structural highs outside of the source rock kitchens. In this study, we reviewed 52 000 km of recently acquired (2017–2018) regional 2D long-offset seismic data with broadband pre-stack time (PSTM) and depth migration (PSDM) processing. We identified five major structural domains with hydrocarbon prospectivity on the Northern Margin of Argentina and four on the Southern Margin, and the presence of previously unseen structural and stratigraphic traps involving sequences assigned to proven regional source rocks and reservoirs in Permian, Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. The source and reservoir rocks, petroleum systems, and play types present in the deepwater of the undrilled Argentina Basin represent a true frontier for hydrocarbon exploration. Pseudo relief attribute seismic displays and amplitude v. angle (AVA) analysis are demonstrated to be valuable tools in predicting the stratigraphy of the basins. A new framework for understanding the oil and gas prospectivity of the study area is presented.
期刊介绍:
Petroleum Geoscience is the international journal of geoenergy and applied earth science, and is co-owned by the Geological Society of London and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).
Petroleum Geoscience transcends disciplinary boundaries and publishes a balanced mix of articles covering exploration, exploitation, appraisal, development and enhancement of sub-surface hydrocarbon resources and carbon repositories. The integration of disciplines in an applied context, whether for fluid production, carbon storage or related geoenergy applications, is a particular strength of the journal. Articles on enhancing exploration efficiency, lowering technological and environmental risk, and improving hydrocarbon recovery communicate the latest developments in sub-surface geoscience to a wide readership.
Petroleum Geoscience provides a multidisciplinary forum for those engaged in the science and technology of the rock-related sub-surface disciplines. The journal reaches some 8000 individual subscribers, and a further 1100 institutional subscriptions provide global access to readers including geologists, geophysicists, petroleum and reservoir engineers, petrophysicists and geochemists in both academia and industry. The journal aims to share knowledge of reservoir geoscience and to reflect the international nature of its development.