Petroleum System Characterization, Sinu Area (Offshore, Colombia)

During the last decades different oil companies have evaluated and explored the petroleum potential of the offshore Colombian Caribbean margin (Atlantic Ocean). The last evaluation campaign was performed by Total during 2001 and 2002 by integrating the most recent available technologies and techniques to acquire and interpret data on deep waters (400-3000 m water depth) of Sinu block. The petroleum system study on the Sinu area was focussed on the determination of a possible hydrocarbons generative system (presence and extension) and on the prediction of fluid quality (origin & maturity) inside of the prospects. The characterization study of Sinu block was carried out in several steps: 1. Integration of available 2D seismic data and acquisition of bathymetric campaign in the area to optimize the coring measurement points in the area. Figure 1 - Location of Sinu Area 2. Acquisition and data analysis of heat flow measurements and seabed piston coring to characterize the present conditions and sampling the hydrocarbon shows. 3. Integration of data results and run of basin modeling using 1D (Genex) and 2D (Temis) to characterize the extension, timing, maturity and the petroleum systems in the area. The referred studies put in evidence the existence of a generative Tertiary gas petroleum system in the offshore area. A Cretaceous oil prone system remained hypothetical in the Sinu accretional prism. The seal prospect efficiency appears to be a critical point for the prospectivity in this area, considering the mud diapirism and overpressures.