f Deepwater Hydrocarbon Migration and Focus Challenges Explored in the Suriname-Guyana Basin

The Suriname-Guyana Basin emerged as a key exploration hub after the 2015 discovery of the Upper Cretaceous, deepwater Liza Field. To date, 19 additional discoveries have exploited the Liza play analog, targeting stratigraphically trapped basin floor submarine fans immediately outboard of the paleo shelf-slope break. The basin’s recent success has revitalized the industry’s interest in improving our understanding of the petroleum systems elements and how they lead to commercial accumulations. Recent exploration efforts provide new insights into the complex regional hydrocarbon migration and charge mechanisms. World class Albian-Turonian aged oil-prone source rocks are present throughout the basin. The better constrained Cenomanian-Turonian organically enriched interval is thought to be laterally extensive and present throughout the distal basin with a favorable maturation history for Mesozoic reservoirs. However, migration patterns remain poorly understood. The majority of the >7 km of post-source deposition lacks significant faulting and trapping structures. This overburden configuration presents significant challenges for the vertical migration and focusing of hydrocarbons, a critical component of Coniacian to Maastrichtian hydrocarbon charge. Regional 2D migration models utilizing calibrated seismic facies from well control were constructed over known fields and discoveries to investigate the primary drivers for vertical hydrocarbon movement and focus. These drivers include: 1) increased driving force where basement structure influences overlying stratal geometries, 2) changes in buoyancy caused by lateral baffling at facies boundaries, and 3) abnormal formation pressure variation associated with facies changes. We report here deductions made from this analysis paired with results from synthetic testing of lithologic and low amplitude structural controls on capillary resistance, buoyancy, and formation pressure to improve our understanding of the primary controlling factors on hydrocarbon migration and entrapment in this region.