Reference no: EM132228324
Petroleum Play analysis of SE Brazil - Espírito Santo Basin
The assignment consists in an assessment of the petroleum potential of the ‘pre-salt' reservoirs in the Espírito Santo Basin, SE Brazil. Southeast Brazil has witnessed the discovery of major oil fields offshore Rio de Janeiro, Cabo Frio and Victória. Most of these major fields are located below thick Aptian salt units in carbonate microbialites that, due to technological advances, can be ‘stimulated' to allow favourable recovery rates. Most of the fields in ultra-deep waters are, nevertheless, rich in volatiles (NSOs) that need to be re-injected back into the reservoir units. Offshore Espírito Santo, favourable geological conditions have allowed the loss of these volatiles, and GORs are lower than in ultra-deep prospects. As not all the information required to fully assess the petroleum potential of certain regions of SE Brazil will be available in published journals or online literature, this essay will require some creative, critical thinking - which will be rewarded in the assessment of the essay.
The aim of the essay will be to address, based on a series of .ppt slides provided with this document, the role of:
a) Cretaceous faulting in the release (and migration) of hydrocarbons and volatiles. In other words, explain what is the role of these faults in the enhancement (of not!) of fluid migration, and on the destabilization of strata above the faults.
b) Suggest areas to drill in the seismic sections provided, and
c) As the study area has plenty of (upper) Cretaceous channel-fill deposits, conclude on the role of submarine channels as CO2 sinks at the time of their deposition, and at present. Frequent feedback will be given prior to the coursework deadline (11 February 2018). Feedback will outline key tectonic and sedimentary insights into the development of the South Atlantic Ocean. Prior to this you should read the following references and begin to think about what aspects you would like to highlight in your coursework. The published literature is a good place to expand your search for more detailed information.
References cited in the introductory presentation (given in Lecture #1) will also be helpful. This presentation has been posted on Learning Central. You will be given key seismic profiles across a region where exploration is active at the moment. My suggestion is to begin by researching the tectonic and sedimentary fill of the Espírito Santo Basin. You can then move on to more speculative assessment of potential source rocks, reservoirs, types of traps and seals. These more speculative sections should be placed within the context of what you have learned about the tectonic/sedimentary fill of the South Atlantic Ocean, and should be supported by data and/or well argued reasoning. General guidelines when writing the report
A. No more than 2500 words and include maps, figures and tables. While you may use photocopies or scans of diagrams, graphs, maps etc. from publications. However, at least 1 figure/map must be self constructed and present data in an original, clear and synthetic way.
B. Geological (chronostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy) and geographical terms must be written correctly, using capitals when needed. Examples: Santos Basin, Cretaceous, Albian, Aptian Evaporites, Urucutuca Formation, etc.
C. The report should be written in the format of a scientific paper.
D. It must begin with a brief Summary/Abstract (1 page) explaining the setting, the goal of the research, the fundamental observations and interpretation that drive your conclusions. E.
The report should contain the following sections:
1. Abstract
2. Introduction and geological setting
3. Petroleum elements within the basin, including a short description of
Potential source rocks
Potential reservoirs
Potential Seals
Potential traps
4. Burial and thermal history of the basin
5. Discussion - you should address the key topics of the essay:
a) Cretaceous faulting in the release (and migration) of hydrocarbons and volatiles. In other words, explain what is the role of these faults in the enhancement (of not!) of fluid migration, and on the destabilization of strata above the faults.
b) Suggest areas to drill in the seismic sections provided, and
c) As the study area has plenty of (upper) Cretaceous channel-fill deposits, conclude on the role of submarine channels as CO2 sinks at the time of their deposition, and at present. 6.
Conclusions
7. References