PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 37, Issue 1, February 2010

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2010, 37(1): 51–56. RESEARCH PAPER

Petroleum geology and exploration potential of

Oriente-Maranon Basin
Xie Yinfu1,*, Jihancheng2, Su Yongdi1, Hu Ying2
1. PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development, Beijing 100083, China;
2. China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China

Abstract: Oriente-Maranon Basin is one of the Sub-Andean foreland basins developed and formed on the basis of Margin of Craton.
Oriente-Maranon Basin went through three evolution phases: marginal basin of craton, rift basin and foreland basin. The phase of rift ba-
sin formed the primary source rocks and reservoir and seal. Triassic-Jurassic Pucara Group and Cretaceous Chonta Formation generated a
mass of hydrocarbons in Paleocene-Eocene (60–45 Ma) and Miocene (15–5 Ma), respectively. There are several reservoir-seal assem-
blages developed in the foreland basin. The assemblage of self-generating and self-preserving reservoir was the most important type in
Cretaceous Chonta Formation. There are basement-involved thrust traps and detached thrust faulted/folded traps in western basin, drape
and extruding anticline traps in central basin, and traction anticline traps in eastern basin. The different types of traps are distributed along
the NW-SE direction. Four potential exploration targets are: Drape and extruding anticline traps in the source rock drainage area in
Chonta Formation in central-western basin; Traction and extruding anticline traps in the source rock drainage area in Pucara Group in
central-southern basin; Pucara Group Carbonate traps in central basin; Lithologic traps in upper Cretaceous and lithology-stratigraphy
traps in upper Paleozoic in the northern and eastern exploratory area.

Key words: Oriente Basin; Maranon Basin; foreland Basin; petroleum geological characteristics; exploration potential

The Sub-Andean foreland basin group developed in the reserves.

western and northern parts of South America is one of the
most famous foreland basin groups in the world, and is an
important hydrocarbon accumulation area in the world[1]. The
foreland basin developed here could be divided into two kinds:
the first kind is located in the northern part of South America,
developed and formed on the base of Mesozoic-Cenozoic rift
basin, such as the East Venezuela Basin and the Bari-
nas-Apure Basin etc; the other kind of foreland basin is dis-
tributed on the western part of South America, developed and
formed on the base of Paleozoic Craton marginal basin, such
as the Oriente Basin and the Maranon Basin etc. The Oriente
Basin and the Maranon Basin belong to the same tectonic unit,
having a very similar evolution process, so it’s very hard to
divide them strictly. This paper takes the two basins as an
integrity when doing research and evaluation.
The exploration history of the Oriente-Maranon Basin
started in the 1910s[2,3], the first 100 million tons oilfield
(Shushufindi Oilfield) was discovered in 1959, and some
other smaller oilfields have been found since then. By now,
the Oriente-Maranon Basin found more then 50 oilfields in
total, in which there are 5 oilfields with over 100 million tons
1 Regional geological characteristics of study
area
The Oriente-Maranon Basin, located in the west of South
America, between the Cordillera mountains and the Gond-
wana shield, is one of the Sub-Andean foreland basins. The
basin covers an area of 31×104 km2 (the Oriente Basin and the
Maranon Basin cover 10×104 km2 and 21×104 km2, respec-
tively), the Vaupes and Macarena uplifts border the basin to
the north and the Contaya Strike-slip fault to the south, and
the western and eastern boundaries are the Andes and the
Gondwana shield separately (Fig. 1). The basin extends along
and parallels to the Andes, and the subsidence center of the
basin is located in front of the Andes. The sedimentary se-
quence becomes thinner towards the east where it overlaps on
the Gondwana shield which makes the basin as a wedge
which is thin in the west and thick in the east. The basin de-
veloped two groups of faults which trend NW-SE and NE-SW,
separately; the two groups of faults occur alone in some
places or jointly appear in other places (Fig. 2).

Received date: 07 Mar. 20008; Revised date: 28 Sept. 2009.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: xieyinfu@cnpcint.com
Foundation item: PetroChina Scientific Tackle Key Problem Program (06B80102).
Copyright © 2010, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.
 Xie Yinfu et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(1): 51–56
Fig. 1 Regional tectonic location of Oriente-Maranon basin
Fig. 2 Fault system and oilfield distribution of the Oriente-
Maranon basin
In Paleozoic, the Oriente-Maranon Basin was one part of
Craton Margin, mainly developing marine sediments. In
Mesozoic, the Atlantic Ocean developed two periods of ten-
sion faults, which formed NNE and NNW extension rifts[4,5],
while the basin evolved into a rift basin, developing ma-
rine-continental sediments. The Pacific plate under-thrusted
into the South America plate with a low angle in Late Creta-
ceous, which caused the basin to become a foreland basin and
received continental sediments in the whole Cenozoic period.
The corresponding relations of the strata for Ori-
ente-Maranon Basin could be seen in Fig. 3[6,7]. The Pucara
Group in the Maranon Basin corresponds to the Santiago
Group in the Oriente Basin; the Cushabatay Formation corre-
sponds to the Hollin Formation; the Raya, Agua Caliente, and
Chonta Formation correspond to the Napo Formation; and the
Vivian Formation in Maranon Basin corresponds to Tena
Formation in Oriente Basin.
2 Basic features of petroleum geology
2.1 Source rock
There are several sets of potential source rocks in the Ori-
ente-Maranon Basin, among which the Cretaceous Chonta
Formation (Napo Formation in the Oriente Basin) and the
Triassic-Jurassic Pucara Group (Santiago Group in the Oriente
Basin) are the most important ones[8]. The geochemical analy-
sis of crude oil and source rock extractions shows that the
crude oil in the northern part of the basin came from the Cre-
taceous Chonta Group source rocks, while oil in the southern
and eastern basin came from Triassic-Jurassic Pucara Group
source rock (Fig. 2).
 Xie Yinfu et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(1): 51–56

Fig. 3 Stratigraphic chart of Oriente-Maranon Basin (modified from reference [6])

The bituminous shale and carbonates of the Upper Creta-
ceous Chonta Formation is the main oil generation source
rock in the basin, which generally contained typeⅠ and type
Ⅱ kerogen in the western and northwestern parts of the basin,
and type Ⅲ in the eastsouthern part. The total organic carbon
(TOC) is between 1% and 2%. The TOC value is about 1% in
east while increasing to 4% in west (up to 10% in some local
areas). The hydrocarbon generation potential is generally be-
tween 2 mg/g and 7 mg/g. The mature source rock is mainly
in the middle and western parts of the basin, but still immature
in the east. The source rock reached peak oil generation dur-
ing Miocene (5-15 Ma) (Fig. 4).
 Xie Yinfu et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(1): 51–56
Fig. 4 Contour of TOC and Ro of source rock in the Ori-
ente-Maranon Basin
The organic-rich carbonates in the Triassic-Jurassic Pucara
Group is another set of important source rock in the basin
which mainly features type Ⅱ kerogen, with TOC value be-
tween 1% and 12%, and mostly between 2% to 5%. The hy-
drocarbon generation potential is generally between 0.5 mg/g
and 2.0 mg/g.
This set of source rock, which was eroded or pinched out in
the central area, mainly developed in the western part of the
basin, and reached its hydrocarbon generation peak during
Paleocene and Eocene (60-45 Ma).
Besides, the Devonian Cabanillas shale also has the source
rock characteristics, with TOC value generally between 1%
and 2%. This source rock is over mature at present and mainly
developed in the southeastern part of the basin.
2.2 Reservoir-caprock assemblage
Oil and gas are mainly found in Cretaceous terrigenous
clastic rock of the basin[9]. The Cushabatsy Formation (Hollin
Formation in the Oriente Basin) braided river-delta sandstone
are at unconformable contact with the underlying formation.
This reservoir consists of thick-bed to massive white quartz
sandstones, widely spread. The reservoir has a porosity of
12%–25% and permeability of 19.74×10–3–1 974.00×10–3 μm2.
Oilfields of this reservoir are mainly distributed in the central
and western parts of the Oriente Basin, while in the Maranon
Basin, due to the lacking of seal condition, hydrocarbon is
hard to accumulate in this reservoir. This sandstone mainly
serves as a lateral migration pathway for hydrocarbon.
The Middle Chaonta delta-shallow marine sandstone is the
most important reservoir in the basin which interbedded with
source rock and formed a high efficiency self-generation and
self-accumulation assemblage. The sandstone gradually be-
comes thicker from west to east, which has a porosity of
12%–22% and permeability of 19.74×10–3–1 974.00×10–3 μm2.
The source rock also is a stable regional caprock.
The upper Vivian Formation (Tena Formation in the Ori-
ente Basin) fluvial river sandstone is a major reservoir rock in
the Maranon Basin, while the Tena Formation is not well de-
veloped in the Oriente Basin. The Vivian Formation sandstone
consists of massive quartz sandstone, which has a porosity of
10%–25% and permeability of 39.48×10–3–7 896.00×10–3 μm2.
The overlaying Neocene Cachiyacu Formation mudstone is
caprock.
2.3 Trap type
The traps in Orient-Maranon Basin are mainly structural
traps[1,10,11]. The Pacific plate continued to thrust into the
South America plate since Late Cretaceous. The strong extru-
sion stress was released in the western part of the basin, which
formed thrust/fold traps and basement involved traps[12]. The
residue extrusion stress transferred to the east. In the central
part of the basin, the extrusion function is weak, which re-
sulted in the formation of extrusion and drape anticlines. In
the east, the extrusion stress from the west was blocked by the
Gondwana shield which reversed the former normal fault and
formed some thrust anticlines. All kinds of traps are distrib-
uted along NW-SE direction like a belt. In addition, lithologi-
cal traps and stratigraphic traps may develop in the central and
eastern parts of the basin.
2.4 Migration pathway
The hydrocarbon migration in the Oriente-Maranon Basin
has the long distance and step-up migration features (Fig. 5).
The Lower Cretaceous Cushabatay sandstone with high po-
rosity and permeability provides a favorable lateral migration
channel for large scale hydrocarbon migration, and the lateral
migration distance could be more than 100 km[12]. In addition,
the successive fault activation provides a vertical channel for
hydrocarbon migration, through which the hydrocarbon could
migrate to the shallow reservoir in slope, which shows a
step-up migration characteristic.
3 Oil and gas distribution
The distribution of more than 50 oilfields (Fig. 2) which
have been discovered in the Oriente-Maranon Basin has the
follow characteristics:
(1) Gas fields are mainly distributed in the northern and
eastern parts of the basin. Faults are well developed in the
western part, which destroyed most traps, so the area and
scale of the traps is small. This is the reason why lots of oil
seepages are found but without large oil fields developed in
the area; In the central part, the fault activation is weak, and
 Xie Yinfu et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(1): 51–56
Fig. 5 Hydrocarbon migration model of Oriente-Maranon Basin
few associated structures developed; the fault activation is
strong in the eastern and northern parts which formed a lot of
new faults and associated structures, leading to the concentra-
tion of oil fields in this area.
(2) Oil and gas fields are mainly distributed along and on
the upper side of the faults. The basic frames of Cretaceous to
Neocene and basement fault systems are almost the same,
which shows a strong succession. The Andes orogeny acti-
vated most faults, which then became hydrocarbon migration
path, and the upper side of the faults became favorable place
for hydrocarbon accumulation which migrated vertically
along the faults.
(3) From west to east, the main production layers become
shallower and younger, which shows a step-up feature.
4 Remaining exploration potential
The exploration in the northern and eastern parts of the
Oriente-Maranon Basin has reached an advanced stage, while
the central western and southern parts of the basin is relative
unexplored and has a great potential. According to USGS
(2000) prediction, the undiscovered recoverable reserves are
3.1×108 t for oil and 390×108 m3 for gas.
The potential exploration area includes: (1) The drape and
extrusion traps in the central western part of the basin, the
petroleum came from Cretaceous Chonta formation source
rock (Fig. 2). These traps that are near the hydrocarbon gen-
eration centre are the most favorable targets due to the faults
developed inside the Cretaceous stratum which connects these
traps to the source rock, in spite of without large faults. The
deepest buried depth of these target reservoirs could reach
4500 m, thus the exploration cost is high. (2) The thrust anti-
cline and extrusion traps in the central and southern parts of
the basin, the oil originated from the Jurassic Pucara source
rock. These targets have a buried depth of 3300–4000 m. The
Pucare source rocks were truncated here and the oil from the
source rock could migrate into the Cretaceous reservoir di-
rectly, which made these traps important potential exploration
targets. (3) The Pucara carbonate traps in the central part of
the basin[13](Fig. 2). The Well Shanusi-1 meets gas-bearing
Pucara porous carbonates at 4470 m, which shows a great gas
exploration potential. (4) The Upper Cretaceous lithological
traps and the Upper Paleozoic structural-stratigraphic traps in
northern and eastern mature exploration areas of the basin
also have some exploration potential.
5 Conclusions
The Oriente-Maranon Basin has advantageous petroleum
geological conditions. The Upper Cretaceous Chonta Forma-
tion and Triassic and Jurassic Pucara Group source rock,
Chonta Formation and Vivian formation reservoirs and Neo-
cene Cahiyacu Formation shale form a great source-reservoir-
caprock assemblage. The Lower Cretaceous Cushabatay For-
mation high porosity, high permeability sandstone and active
faults provided effective migration channel for hydrocarbon,
making them migrate to shallow reservoir on the slope. Oil &
gas fields are mainly distributed in the eastern and northern
parts of the basin along the faults, and mainly concentrate in
the upper side of faults. These petroleum geological charac-
teristics and hydrocarbon accumulation model are very repre-
sentative in Sub-Andean foreland basins in the western part of
South America.
Due to the abundance of remaining petroleum resources,
the prospects of the basin include: the drape and extrusion
anticline traps in the central and western parts of the basin,
which originates from the Cretaceous Chonta Formation
source rock; the thrust and extrusion anticline traps in the
central and southern part of the basin which originates from
the Jurassic Pucara Group source rock; the Pucara Group car-
bonate traps in the central; and the Upper Cretaceous
lithological traps and Upper Paleozoic structural-stratigraphic
traps in the northern and eastern mature exploration areas of
the basin.
 Xie Yinfu et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(1): 51–56
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