Third EAGE-HGS Conference on Latin America

Latin America – An Exploration Overview

Chairs: Bob Fryklund (IHS) and Daniel Minisini (Shell)

The Atlantic conjugate margin agglutinate the activity of most offshore operators. Analyzing the geological and non-technical risks at continental scale allows ranking the opportunities within the entire conjugate margin, classifying reliable sites against marginal sites, based on criteria derived from the same group of explorers, and on knowledge transferred from databases geographically far apart. Method, data and mindset behind these analyses will be presented to debate among explorers.

Brazil and Guyana are leading the region and the world in new volumes of discovered hydrocarbons. Mexico is in pursuit, but the next several years of deep-water drilling will be critical. Colombia offshore too is in the proof of concept stage and upcoming wells will be critical in determining if there are enough resources for commerciality. In Argentina, the Vaca Muerta is ramping up.

• Still lots of basins remain under-explored.

• Where will the next discovery be?

• What role will future demand and the call for a reduced carbon footprint have?

• Will Venezuela rejoin the marketplace?

Frontier Areas; New Plays and Missed Opportunities

Chairs: Catie Donohue (GeoMark Research) and Jason Mintz (Apache)

The Latin America and Caribbean regions contain about 20% of the global proven oil reserves but the excitement of the area lies in the significantly under explored offshore and unconventional opportunities. Recent exploration work is challenging preconceived models of reservoir presence, source presence, and tectonic development to identify some compelling new petroleum concepts. From new reservoir provenance models in Mexico, updated crustal type models in the Caribbean and new details on the A-C-T source rock along the equatorial margin, these new ideas are driving frontier exploration and regenerating interest in the area.

Greater Caribbean; Non-Guyana and Suriname

Chairs: Bryan Ott (Hess) and Sean Romito (University of Houston)

The Caribbean Region remains a challenging frontier area located between the prolific oil-rich basins of the Gulf of Mexico and northern South America. Despite a number of gas discoveries in recent years, bold explorers continue their search for the elusive oil field, and the region has seen numerous high-impact wildcats drilled in the recent years. This year BPC spud the Perseverance -1 wildcat targeting Jurassic to Cretaceous carbonates in a large fold on the Bahamas Bank. BHP and partners continue exploring in the deep water areas of Trinidad, where a number of gas discoveries have been made. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, Shell has farmed into offshore Colombia, and ongoing farm-outs continue in Jamaica.

Greater Caribbean; Guyana and Suriname

Chairs: Shawn Wright (Hess) and Ben Kirkland (CNOOC)

The Guyana-Suriname basin is often considered one of the last remaining under-explored but highly prospective basins in the world. With exception of the discovery of the onshore Tambaredjo and neighboring heavy oil fields in Suriname in the 1960s, a spotted exploration history dating back to the 1920’s had been largely unsuccessful. Exploration interest was renewed when a 2002 report by the USGS estimated ~13.6 Bbbls of oil reserves were left undiscovered. Exploration efforts were soon rewarded with the economic discovery of high-quality oil-bearing Late Cretaceous turbidite sands at Liza-1 in the Stabroek block by an ExxonMobil-led partnership in 2015. Following the Liza discovery, additional operators have found success in the basin with discoveries at Jethro and Joe (Tullow-led), Maka, Sapakara, Kwaskwasi, and Keskesi (Apache-led) and Sloanea (Petronas-led). Since 2015, ~25 commercial discoveries have been made making the Guyana-Suriname basin the most exciting basin on the Atlantic margin. As exploration moves outside of the proven Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic trap play fairway in the SE Stabroek area, the level of technical understanding of the petroleum system is the key to predicting hydrocarbon fluid properties and discovering additional resources. In particular, source rock presence/maturity and reservoir presence/quality are areas of substantial interest. With several high-impact wells in the very near future targeting Paleocene to Jurassic plays, the players in this basin are continually acquiring new information and the future of the Guyana-Suriname basin is bright.

South Atlantic; Non-Brazil

Chairs: Katy Sementelli (BHP) and Corey Moss (Murphy)

Industry activity has recently shifted south to the countries of Argentina and Uruguay with successful bid rounds held in each country in 2018 and 2019. Both countries saw an increase in interest in Frontier Offshore blocks with awards going to supermajor partnerships in Argentina (Shell, XOM, Total) and independents operators in both countries (BPC in Uruguay, for example). Recent seismic acquisition and reprocessing of data have expanded interest in new play ideas, such stratigraphic traps in deep-water reservoirs, and revisiting known plays in new areas (Malvinas Basin). Uruguay has revamped the bid-round process to include an open-round formula for flexible options in generating interest in both offshore and onshore acreage. Argentina has put the 2020 round on hold in light of economic investment concerns related to the COVID19 pandemic. However, activity in the region has not stalled with seismic acquisition associated with work commitments continued in 2020. Optimism in the Southern Atlantic was enhanced with a discovery in 2019 in the Outeniqua basin off South Africa by Total with the Brulpadda well. Further excitement continues with a well of interest; Total’s Venus-1 wildcat targeting a major ultra-deepwater prospect in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia which may confirm the Cretaceous source potential in the South Atlantic. Frontier exploration continues in the Southern Atlantic areas.

South Atlantic; Brazil

Chairs: Bill Dickson (DIGs) and Marcus Zinecker (BP)

Equatorial Margin - huge region, unclear potential

Vast region with potential for Upper Cretaceous & younger fan plays analogous to Jubilee (offshore Ghana) and Zaedyus (offshore French Giuana). Restrained by lack of infrastructure except Potiguar/Ceara (easternmost basins) where existing onshore and shallow water fields mature. Undeveloped deepwater discoveries at Pecem, Pitu, Tango.

Southeast Margin - giant and super-giant discoveries & production; unexplored potential

2021 excitement includes:

Sergipe: ExxonMobil well on an outboard ultra-deep-water block, perhaps testing two new play types (contourite sands, carbonate buildups on rift-age volcanic features) which could require sourcing from Aptian seaward dipping reflectors interbeds where younger A-C-T marine source is too shallow or absent.

Campos: probe ultra-deep-water targets with both post-salt A-C-T marine source pods; and usual syn-rift-sag lacustrine source. Post-salt targets include contourites in lows; pre-salt CO3 targets difficult to image and areally reduced by lack of regional top seal resulting from extensive salt movement.

Santos: 3D mapping of present-day pre-salt structuration is excellent; reservoir facies inversions are good; but insufficient. Need better understanding of basin evolution at crustal level to improve models of thermal history, CO2 and volcanic pathways, source facies distributions.

Pacific Margin; Onshore and Offshore

Chairs: Lucia Torrado and Leo Liu (Chevron)

The Pacific Margin of Latin America has one of the largest concentrations of oil seeps in the world. With several mature Cretaceous to Cenozoic source rocks, reservoirs like turbidite sandstone, extensive seal rocks and multiple, combined trapping mechanisms, the Latin America’s convergent margin is proving to be an attractive area ready to be explored. The increased availability of high-quality data and farm-ins from major O&G companies like Equinor in Nicaragua’s Sandino basin, and Tullow Oil, BP and Oxy’s in the Peruvian offshore are an encouraging indicator of the value and potential of this margin.

Mexico

Chairs: Stan Ingram (CNOOC) and Mike Durcanin (Murphy)

Mexico is a major petroleum producing country with numerous proven basins, including the both the Salina del Istmo and Sureste “Super Basin” with ~60 BBOE of recoverable reserves. These offshore basins are characterized by world-class mature source rocks with numerous reservoir – seal pairs proven in several different stratigraphic intervals similar to its northern counterpart. Unlike the US GoM however, initial exploration and development generally focused mainly on both shallow-water Cretaceous and Jurassic carbonates. As such, the deeper water clastic Neogene/Paleogene plays attracted little interest until now. Following the historic energy reform in 2013, five offshore license rounds were held between 2014 – 2018 with participation from 25 companies that bid over 50 exploration wells and numerous seismic acquisition programs across 55 licenses. With the exception of the giant Zama discovery (roughly 700+ mmbo recoverable) within the Upper Miocene play in the Sureste basin and minor successful step outs within this play (i.e. Cholula, Saskeen), exploration results thus far have been disappointing. Recently, the newest discovery, Polok-1, confirmed a commercially viable petroleum system in the Lower Miocene. To date, as over half of the initial commitment wells remain to be drilled, Mexico remains an exciting location for exploration activity in 2021 and beyond.

**You may choose to register for the in-person networking event/both day sessions OR the online sessions only OR for each day session.**

Networking Reception & Dinner

Date: Monday, November 8, 2021

Location: Saldivia's South American Grill | 10850 Westheimer,Houston, Texas 77042 | 713-782-9494 | www.saldivias.com 

Time: 5:00pm - 9:00pm

The HGS (Houston Geological Society) and EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) will host a networking event on November 8, 2021 in Houston, Texas. On this occasion, the HGS/EAGE will bring this event in an In-Person format. There will be a networking reception with drinks and appetizers, followed by a dinner and sponsor presentations.

Keynote Speaker: Richard Chuchla, Univeristy of Texas "Latin America in the Energy Transition: A Tale of Two Countries"

Latin America enjoys a relatively unique advantage as it deals with the energy transition. Its energy mix has a smaller carbon footprint than that of any other continent due to large hydro resources and, less so, due to its biofuels consumption. While it has started the transition from a favorable place, further progress is necessary but will be challenged by several factors.

5:00 - 6:00pm Networking reception with drinks and appetizers (2 drink tickets will be included with registration)

6:00 - 6:45pm Keynote Speaker presentation

7:00 - 9:00pm Dinner, Vendor networking

Sponsorships are available for $2,000. Your sponsorship will include your logo on the event websites and social media, a table at this networking event, and time (TBD) for a commercial presentation. Please contact the HGS Office for sponsorships at office@hgs.org or by phone at 713-463-9476.

Online Presentations

Meeting links will be sent before the event to the "Primary" email listed on your account.

Dates: Tuesday, November 9 and Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Location: Online via Zoom Webinar

Agenda

Click here to view the full technical program

Day 1: Tuesday, November 9, 2021

8:00 Welcome by Mike Erpenbeck & Ceri Davies

8:15 Round Colombia 2021: The New Model Contract by Juan Felipe Neira-Castro, ANH

Latin America: Scene Setter | Session Chairs: Bob Fryklund & Daniel Minisini

8:45 Future of Latin America - Exec Panel, Hosted by Bob Fryklund and Daniel Minisini

9:30 Latin America Petroleum Systems Overview by Fernando Sanchez-Ferrer, Independent

10:00 Role of Conjugate Margins by Jim Pickens, Shell

10:30 Break

Non Guyana-Suriname | Session Chairs: Bryan Ott & Sean Romito

10:40 Exploring an Active Transformation Margin South of the Cayman Trough by Chris Matchette Downes, CaribX

11:05 Controls on Deposition and Reservoir Character of Atypical Shallow-water Tropical Carbonate Systems: Miocene, Cicuco Field, NW Columbia by Angela Torres-Zamora, University of Kansas

11:20 Unravelling the Mid Miocene Exploration Upside of the Ortoire Block, Onshore SE trinidad by Xavier Moonan, Touchstone

11:45 Break

12:00 Guest Talk & Lunch: Hess's Journey Into an Emerging Superbasin by Tim Chisholm, Hess

12:45 Break

Guyana-Suriname (Part 1) | Session Chairs: Shawn Wright & Benjamin Kirkland

12:50 Deepwater Hydrocarbon Migration and Focus Challenges Explored in the Suriname-Guyana Basin by Melissa Braun, Chevron

1:15 3D Gravity Inversion Supports the Guyana-Suriname Rifted Passage Margin of Jurassic Age: But where is its Conjugate? by Kenneth Shipper, University of Houston

1:30 Analysis of the Poly-phase Plate-Margin Processes of Primary Influence on Jurassic and Cretaceous Basin Development in Guyana-Demerara and Conjugate Guinea Plateau Basins by Katya Casey, Actus

1:55 Break

New Plays / Missed Opportunities | Session Chairs: Catie Donohue & Mark Olson

2:05 New Evidence from Regional Source Rock Correlations and Tectonic Reconstructions Point the Way to an Upper Cretaceous Source Rock Depositional Fairway in the Caribbean by Myles Watson, United

2:30 Mesozoic Carbonate and Evaporities Bahamas by Samuel Epstein

2:55 Geologic Framework for Critical Risk Factors Analysis of a Tertiary Carbonate Play in Colombian-Venezuelan Sedimentary Basin Along the Caribbean Margin of SA by Juan Arminio, Independent

3:20 Break

South Atlantic: Non-Brazil | Session Chairs: Katy Sementelli & Corey Moss

3:25 The Role of Geophysics in Addressing the Multiple Challenges Facing Development of Vaca Muerta, Argentina by Luis Vernengo, Pan American Energy

3:50 Prospectivity of the Colorado Bain, Offshore Argentina by Steve DeVito, Independent

4:15 Atlantic Margin Enexplored Fairway Sweet Spot with Significant Hydrocarbon Potential by Karyna Rodriguez, Searcher

4:40 Close

Day 2: Wednesday, November 10, 2021

8:30 Welcome by Mike Erpenbeck & Ceri Davies

Mexico | Session Chairs: Stan Ingram & Mike Durcanin

8:40 Column Height Guidelines for Undrilled Prospects in Mexico by Mark Shann, Geomarcas/Sierra

9:05 Integrated Model for the Tectonic Development of Southern Mexico/Central America & the Chiapas-Campeche Basin by James Pindell, Rice University/Tectonic Analysis Ltd.

9:30 Regional Source Rock Maturity Modeling Along the Campeche Salt Basin, Southern Gulf of Mexico by Md Nahidul Hasan, Univeristy of Houston

9:45 Break

Pacific: Onshore & Offshore | Session Chairs: Lucia Torrado & Leo Liu

9:55 Cretaceous-Cenozoic Tectonostratigraphic Evolutionand Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Sandino Forearc Basin, Offshore Nicaragua by Paul Mann, University of Houston

10:10 Regional Effects of Miocene-Recent Panama Arc Collision; Influence on Maturation and Distribution of HCs in NW South America and S. Central America by Juan Pablos Ramos, University of Houston

10:25 Peruvian Petroleum System Assessment with a Focus on Offshore Basins by Craig Schiefelbein, Independent 

10:50 Break

Greater Caribbean: Guyana-Surname (Part 2) | Session Chairs: Shawn Wright & Benjamin Kirkland

10:55 Oil and Source Rock Geochemistry of the Guyana Basin by Andres Cedeno, University of Stavanger

11:20 Distinguishing Petroleum Source Rock Acmes Across Northern South America: Application to Evaluate the Potential of the Albian to Maastrichtian Guyana Basin by Daniella Easley, University of Houston

11:35 An Integrated Approach of Forward Source Rock Modeling in the Suriname-Guyana Basin by Yushi Zhao, Chevron

12:00 Break

12:10 Guest talk & Lunch: The Outlook for High Impact Exploration in Latin America by Graeme Bagley, Westwood Energy

12:55 Break

South Atlantic: Brazil (Part 1) | Session Chairs: Bill Dickson & Marcus Zinecker

1:00 Thermal and Petroleum Systems Evolution in the Outboard Campos and Santos Basins, Offshore Brazil: Insights from 3D Basin Modelling by Tono Martin Monge, Repsol

1:25 Tectonostratigraphic Evolution and Thermal Maturity Modeling of the Sergipe-Alagoas Rifted-Passive Margin, Northeastern Brazil by Hualing Zhang, Riped/University of Houston

1:40 Rift-Associated Magmatism in the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin and its Influence on Local Petroleum Systems by Mariana Meirelles, Petrobas

2:05 Break

South Atlantic: Brazil (Part 2) | Session Chairs: Bill Dickson & Marcus Zinecker

2:10 Early Post-Rift Dynamo-Thermal Subsidence & Stratigraphic Architecture as Magma-Rich Rifted MArgins Move Off Plumes by James Pindell, Rice university/Tectonic Analysis Ltd.

2:35 Geological Sources of CO2 in Santos, Campos, and Espiritu Santo Basins by Sharon Cornelius, University of Houston

3:00 Huge Structures Associated to Novel Deformation as Seen in New 3D Data in the Pre-Salt of Santos Basin by Pedro Zalan, ZAG Consulting in Petroleum Exploration

3:25 Wrap up / Awards

Pricing

To guarantee a spot, you must pre-register on the HGS website and pay with a credit card.  Please cancel by phone or email within 24 hours before the event for a refund. Online & pre-registration will close Monday, November 8 at 5 a.m. CST.

**Non-Members will need to create a profile in order to register. Please call the HGS office at 713-463-9476 if you experience any issues.**

$300  Networking Event & Online Presentations

          Access to the in-person networking reception and access to both days of virtual presentations

$175  Online Presentations ONLY

          Access to both days of virtual presentations on November 9th AND 10th

$100  November 9th Session

         Access to one day of virtual presentations on November 9th 

$100 November 10th Session

         Access to one day of virtual presentations on November 10th

$50  Students

Sponsorships available!!! Please contact the HGS Office for more information.

Click here to download the Sponsor Brochure.

*2021 Sponsors*