Uruguay to reprocess seismic in Punta del Este and Pelotas basins

Uruguay’s state oil company (ANCAP) has signed an agreement with PGS to reprocess over 11,000 km of existing 2D lines of various vintages in Punta del Este and Pelotas basins.

The reprocessing will provide new 2D seismic that will tie with existing 15,600 sq km multi-client 3D survey.

The area offers numerous clastic-channel and fan systems, plus carbonate build-ups form stacked plays throughout the Paleozoic to Tertiary section. Most of these plays have yet to be tested.

Fluid inclusions of oil and gas, gas chimneys and BSRs identified offshore indicate a working petroleum system with predicted source rock intervals in the Paleozoic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

Punta del Este basin is offshore in the western part of Uruguay near the border with Argentina. It was formed by a failed rift structure in the Late Jurassic, producing a north-west/south-east (NW–SE) fault trend.

Pelotas basin is offshore in the eastern part of Uruguay and extends through several kilometres into offshore Brazil. It was formed during the Early Cretaceous with the subsequent opening of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a NE–SW fault trend.

New regional horizon interpretation will delineate variable structural framework and timing of faulting between these basins, which resulted in a varied depositional history during the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Cenozoic.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal