Geology and hydrocarbon accumulations, Columbus basin, offshore Trinidad
The Columbus basin, on the eastern shelf of Trinidad, lies at the eastern extremity of a belt of severe deformation along the northern boundary of South America that has been affected by compressional and wrench tectonics in the Pliocene-Pleistocene. Two major structural trends are present in the Columbus basin: a series of ENE-trending anticlines and NNW-oriented normal faults. The basin was filled during the late Miocene to Holocene with sediments deposited by an ancestral Orinoco River draining a hinterland to the southwest. The Pliocene-Pleistocene section, which contains the hydrocarbon accumulations in the Columbus basin, was laid down in three coarsening-upward sedimentary sequences followed by a late Pleistocene transgressive sequence. Traps for hydrocarbon accumulation were formed by an easterly trending Pliocene-Pleistocene wrench system with associated ENE-oriented anticlines combined with NNW-oriented normal faults. Oil was sourced in the late Miocene lower Cruse Formation, whereas gas was derived both from Pliocene-Pleistocene pro-delta shales and as a late high temperature phase of lower Cruse hydrocarbon generation. The NNW faults formed migration conduits from the oil source rock to Pliocene-Pleistocene reservoirs. The temporal relationship of faulting to oil generation is a major factor affecting the distribution of oil and gas. The size of hydrocarbon accumulations is limited to some extent by a lack of an effective hydrocarbon seal, particularly in the western half of the basin.
- Research Organization:
- Amoco Norway Oil Co., Stavanger
- OSTI ID:
- 6230697
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 67:3; ISSN AAPGB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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DEPOSITION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGIC TRAPS
GEOLOGY
ISLANDS
LESSER ANTILLES
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
OFFSHORE OPERATIONS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SOURCE ROCKS
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
WEST INDIES