Teclink 3D: A New Approach for Petroleum Systems Modeling in Fold and Thrust Belts – A Case Study from Bolivia

Friedemann Baur^1**, Thomas Fuchs¹, Emilio Rocha², Matias Di Benedetto², Simone Sciamanna³, and Carolyn Lampe^1
1IES, Integrated Exploration Systems, Ritterstr. 23, 52072 Aachen, Germany
²RepsolYPF, Esmeralda 255, Buenos Aires C1035ABE, Argentina
³RepsolYPF, E&P Brazil, Praia do Botafogo, 300, 22250-040 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
**Corresponding author: Phone: +49 - 241 - 51586 – 59, e-mail: [email protected]

A new technical approach called PetroMod 3D-TecLink® has been applied to a study area in the Bolivian Andes to address and understand complex, compressional tectonic structures in a fully integrated petroleum systems modeling framework. Thrusted strata imply the duplication of individual layers, which poses problems during numerical simulation as it results in multiple depth-values for a given layer. In order to address this problem, the model needs to be subdivided into individual “thrust-” or “fault blocks”, each representing a geometrical unit, without repetitive strata, within the model cube. While this is a common procedure in software packages that are designed to reconstruct and balance tectonic movement through time (both compressional and extensional), in petroleum systems modeling not only the geometrical aspects through time but also physical properties such as compaction, decompaction, pressure, temperature, maturity, petroleum saturations, etc. need to be addressed. The new technique links the structural geological approach with the petroleum systems modeling approach and is used to investigate and improve predictions for petroleum systems in complex tectonic settings.

The study area covers roughly 45x25 km and is located 120 km northeast of Tarija, Bolivia. A sedimentary sequence of up to 8 km has been deposited from Early Ordovician to Late Pliocene, featuring a foreland basin stage from Early Miocene on. The area is characterized by thin-skin tectonic deformation, which has been active since the Late Miocene (6-7Ma) and generated a hinterland duplex geometry cut by out-of-sequence thrust during the very last deformation stage. The main reservoirs are the fractured Early Devonian quartzites of the Huamampampa formation and the Late Devonian Iquiri formation. Two major source rocks, which were deposited under restricted to anoxic conditions, are the Middle Devonian Los Monos and the Early Devonian Icla formations with TOC contents of up to 2 wt%. The Los Monos formation also acts as a regional seal and is associated with much of the observed overpressure.

The input data for the case study comprises the present-day geometry, 14 restored paleo-sections as well as temperature-, maturity-, pressure- and calibration data along key-wells. This study presents the first three-dimensional, PVT-controlled, multi-component, 3-phase petroleum migration analysis to explain the observed distribution of temperature, pressure, maturity and petroleum accumulations in a 3D compressional structural regime. PetroMod’s TecLink® technology has been applied to constrain the development of temperature, thermal maturity and pressure compartments as well as the generation, migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons within the study area.

 

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90066©2007 AAPG Hedberg Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands

 

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90066©2007 AAPG Hedberg Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands