Exploration and Evaluation of the Orinoco Oil Belt G. Fiorillo Petroleos de Venezuela, SA Caracas, Venezuela During 1983, the regional exploration and evaluation program of the 53,000 km? (20,460 mi’) of the Ori noco Heavy Oil Belt was concluded. This evaluation, based on the interpretation of 25,000 km of seismic lines, 800 exploration wells, and 600 production tests, resulted in an estimation of 1.2 X 10” barrels of oil in place. This confirms the existence in southeastern Venezuela of one of the largest oil accumulations in the world. Production tests have shown great similarity with heavy-oil fields in traditional areas, i., average cold well rates between 100 and 800 b/d and a threefold increase of this figure upon steam soak. The oil discovered has an average gravity of 9.5° API, with an average viscosity of 1500 cp at 99°C (210°F), sulfur content 3.6%, vanadium 420 ppm, and nickel 95 ppm. ‘One of the fundamental parts of the evaluation was the construction of sedimentary models to support the geological interpretation and the estimation of oil in place. ‘The stratigraphy of the area was established, permitting sedimentary models to be constructed, based on a well-to-well correlation and the analysis of 3290 m (10,800 ft) of conventional cores. The main reservoir rocks are predominantly encountered in the basal section of the Tertiary and are formed of unconsolidated fluvio-deltaic sands. Some oil has been trapped in rocks of Upper Cretaceous age, especially toward the west. The trapping mechanism for oil in these conditions is mainly stratigraphic such as pinch-out and truncation of a complex set of meanders where intercutting of previously formed sand structures can occur. In some re- stricted areas, a combination of faulting and stratigraphy can be the trapping mechanism. The physical and chemical properties of the oil are probably due to long-distance migration (some 100-150 km [60-90 mil) and the consequent loss of volatiles and oxidation during migration. Applying a recovery factor of 30% as a result of cyclic steam injection followed by steam drive, recoverable oil is estimated to be 245 X 10” bbl. Faja oil is basically naphthenic Its presently foreseen that production requirements from the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt will be on the order of 500,000 bbliday by the year 2000. INTRODUCTION Exploration work in the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, sponsored by several multinational oil companies, began in 1920. The activities were abandoned because of a lack of interest in the area at that time. Explora- tory activities were reinitiated between 1930 and 1940, with the drilling of 45 wells. During this decade, the different types of crudes of the area then known as the “Faja Bituminosa del Orinoco” (Orinoco Tar Belt) were roughly defined. Shortly after, the area was once more abandoned. It was in 1956-1957, with the drilling of new wells, that the production of heavy oil reached a level of 20,000 barrels per day (bid) and it was then that the name “Faja Petrolifera del Orinoco” (Orinoco Oil Belt) was given to the area, since it was proven that it contained predominantly heavy oil and not bituminous material, as originally thought In 1967, Galavis and Velarde presented the first formal study of the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt; based on the information existing at that time, the oil in place was estimated to be 693,000 million stock-tank barrels (STB). During the following decade, the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons initiated an intensive exploratory program, which included the acquisition of 10,602 km of seismic “Dinoseis” lines and the drilling of 116 wells andlor stratigraphic boreholes in eight potential oil- bearing areas. In 1978, after the nationalization of the oil industry, the Venezuelan Government entrusted Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) with the responsibility of con: tinuing the exploratory evaluation of the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, establishing 1983 as the deadline for 103104 Fiorillo the conclusion of the evaluation In order to complete the exploratory program in an area of 54,000 km* (1540 mit), PDVSA divided the belt into four areas, each one being assigned for evaluation to one of the four operating companies: Cerro Negro to LAGOVEN, Hamaca to MENEVEN, Zuata to MARAVEN, and Machete to CORPOVEN (Fig. 1). ‘The regional exploration program was concluded during 1983, and an integrated report was prepared under the supervision of the Coordination of the Ori- rnoco Oil Belt in Petroleos de Venezuela. The basic information analyzed and used in this final report is the following: © 49,483 km: (19,105 mi?) of gravimetric surveys; © 53,083 km? (20,495 mi’) of magnetometric surveys; © 10,602 km? (4090 mi*) of "Dinoseis” seismic surveys; 14,714 km: (5681 mi) of “Vibroseis” seismic surveys; © 53,983 km? (20,843 mi") of aeromagnetic surveys; # 116 exploration wells completed prior to 1972; © 662 exploration wells drilled 1979-1983; 593 wells intervals evaluated; © 373 oil analyses; © 129 gas analyses: © 206 water analyses; © 5.5 million m (18 million ft) of petrophysical logs; 3276 m (10,749 ft) of cores; and © 11 wells tested with steam injection. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE STUDY The success achieved in the exploratory evaluation of the entire Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt is attributed mainly to the strategy employed, the great human and economic effort dedicated to the enterprise over a period of approximately 5 years, and especially to the multidisciplinary approach applied to all the activities, of the exploration program. The geophysical programs produced data of wide coverage and in the majority of cases sections with very good seismic resolution, from which reliable interpretation for structural control of the wells was obtained. In geology, regional geological models that define the main oil accumulations were made. The biostrati- graphic zonation in Zuata and Machete areas helped to resolve local correlation problems, especially in the separation of the Cretaceous and Tertiary, and in the correlation of the basal sand intervals of the Oficina and Roblecito-Chaguaramas formations (Fig. 2). The use of modern petrophysical techniques allowed the solution of problems related to fluid distribution in the formations; and computerized evaluation methods, applied to extensive areas, covered a large number of wells. This, combined with core studies, helped not only in the regional geological interpretation, but also in the interpretation of production tests, thus provid- ing results useful for the planning of future develop- ment programs. HeNeVEN Figure 1—Maps showing Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt and the areas assigned to the four operating companies. Geochemical analysis of the crudes also contributed to the evaluation of the fluid content of the accumula- tions. Through these analyses, it was possible to estab- lish the general trends and characteristics of the dif- ferent types of crudes, as well as their geographical distribution. Also, it was confirmed that the greater part of the crude migrated into the belt from an exter- nal source (Fig. 3). Through the analysis of the cold oil production tests and subsequent steam-soak performance, the areas of interest for future development, containing sufficient reserves and accumulation characteristics to permit production planning, were duly identified. GEOPHYSICS The earliest documented geophysical contribution to the evaluation of the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt dates back to 1937 when Standard Oil of Venezuela ran 200 km (124 mi) of refraction surveys in the north of Zuata, using dynamite as the energy source. Subse- quently, the program was extended by new surveys, also using dynamite. Until 1979, a total of 10,602 km (6588 mi) of seismic lines were accumulated and usedSECTION I. Regional Resources 105 MACHETE (corroven) zuaTa Caanavens THis sTuoY CERRO NEGRO (Lasovens THIS sTuoY uexeven [To wawaca { \ \ Figure 2—Stratigraphic correlation chart of Tertiary formations in the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt. in outlining the general structural model. A deep anal- ysis of the results of the vibroseis system led to the application of the new technologies of data acquisition of the vibroseis system, which at present enjoys inten- sive use in the industry. Special exploration studies and experimental semi- high resolution surveys using special methods and parameters, permitted a subsurface coverage of 4.8%. It was expected that a vertical resolution of up to 9m (30 ft) of separation would be obtained, but because of the low range of frequencies in the seismic signal, the resulting resolution was only on the order of 18 m (60 ft) A particular program that deserves special mention was carried out by INTEVEP and consisted of the delimitation of three gas-bearing sands in the Zuata area, found in well SDZ-79, by use of wavelet seismic processing. The results obtained made it possible to correlate amplitude anomalies with the probable limits of the reservoir, thus making this method applicable to the exploitation of gas in unconsolidated sands. Experiments were also performed with the vertical seismic profiling (VSP) in wells NZZ-88X and NZZ- 86X. These wells discovered a flow of basaltic rock that was previously confused with the crystalline basement. The objective was to determine the thickness of the Paleozoic sediments deposited in the Espino tectonic trend. The VSP logs processed in the field failed to show the basal reflector at the forecasted depth: thus, it became necessary to reprocess the data in order to determine whether this was due to a lack of coherence or to the fact that the reflector is really too deep. Cur- rently, INTEVEP is responsible for the reprocessing of the VSP profiles, in order to evaluate its use for pick- ing up basement reflections in this part of the basin.