From Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin (www.beg.utexas.edu).
For more information, please contact the author.

Bureau Seminar, Oct 15, 2010

Sequence Stratigraphy of Chicontepec Play, Tampico-Misantla Basin Mexico. New Stratigraphic Concepts for Exploration and Development in an Old Play

Link to streaming video TBA: available 10.15.2010 at 8:55am

Gustavo Diaz
Senior Geologist - ConocoPhillips, Houston TX

The complex Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary succession of the Chicontepec Formation is extensively exposed in the Sierra Madre Oriental. This succession has long been explored for its oil accumulations, representing an important Play in the Tampico-Misantla foreland basin. The complex clastic sequence records deposition in a deep-marine fore-deep developed in response to the onset of the Sierra Madre Oriental fold and thrust belt.

This study focused on developing a regional sequence stratigraphic framework for the Chicontepec Play, based on the integration of seismic data, well logs, biostratigraphy, cores and outcrop analogues. Within this framework, several play concepts and reservoir models are proposed with significant implications for development and infill drilling in the Chicontepec Play.

The Chicontepec Play contains Mexico's largest, certified hydrocarbon reserve, totaling more than 19Bboe with original oil in place of more than 139Bboe. However, recovery efficiencies as low as 3-6% in these low permeability-low porosity reservoirs indicate that important bypassed reserves remain untapped. Additionally, the Paleocene/Eocene Chicontepec Formation is of current interest since it may help to understand the Paleogene sand delivery mechanisms in the deep GOM.