An overview of the petroleum system of Maracaibo Basin

Alejandro Escalona and Paul Mann

AUTHORS Alejandro Escalona  Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Building 600, Austin, Texas, 78759; escalona@utig.ig.utexas.edu Alejandro Escalona is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Texas at Austin in 2003, where he focused on the stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela. He is currently interpreting regional seismic and well data from offshore Venezuela to link offshore and on-land Cenozoic depocenters. Paul Mann  Institute for Geophysics, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 4412 Spicewood Springs Road, Building 600, Austin, Texas, 78759; paulm@utig.ig.utexas.edu Paul Mann is a senior research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin. He received his Ph.D. in geology at the State University of New York in 1983 and has published widely on the tectonics of strikeslip, rift, and collision-related sedimentary basins. His current focus area of research is the interplay of tectonics, sedimentation, and hydrocarbon occurrence in Venezuela and Trinidad.

ABSTRACT The geologically complex Maracaibo Basin in northwestern Venezuela is one of the most prolific hydrocarbon basins in the world. Having a basinal area of 50,000 km2 (19,300 mi2), the basin has produced more than 30 billion bbl of oil, with estimated recoverable oil reserves of more than 44 billion bbl. The central elements of the petroleum system of the basin include (1) a worldclass source rock (Upper Cretaceous La Luna Formation), deposited on a shelf-to-slope environment under anoxic conditions and modified by intermittent oxygenated periods and tectonic events; (2) high-quality clastic reservoir rocks deposited in Eocene and Miocene fluviodeltaic settings; (3) two main periods of rapid tectonic subsidence responsible for two pulses of voluminous hydrocarbon generation, first, during Paleogene CaribbeanSouth American oblique plate collision and, second, during the Neogene uplift of the Sierra de Perija Me rida Andes; and (4) lateral and vertical migration of oil along strike-slip, normal, and inverted faults, as well as a regional unconformity of late Eocene Oligocene age. The maturation, migration, and trapping of hydrocarbons were closely controlled by the tectonic evolution of the Maracaibo Basin. During the Paleogene, the development of a foredeep along the northeastern margin of the basin and the strike-slip reactivation of the rift-related Jurassic faults on the Maracaibo platform controlled the early structural setting of the source and reservoir rocks. Hydrocarbons migrated updip from source rocks beneath the northnortheastern margin of the basin along north-south strike-slip faults and into overlying Eocene clastic reservoirs in the south-central parts of the basin. The second period of the Maracaibo Basin petroleum system developed during subaerial exposure of most of the Maracaibo Basin during Oligocene Miocene uplift of the adjacent Sierra de Perija and Me rida Andes. Uplift of mountain ranges surrounding the basin folded and depressed the interior of the basin to form the extensive Maracaibo syncline. Because of the formation of the Maracaibo syncline, oil generation began in the central and southern parts of the synclinal basin and migrated northward. Hydrocarbons migrated up the flanks of the Maracaibo syncline along reactivated

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Petro leos de Venezuela, S. A., for providing seismic and well data used in this study. This work was supported by Grant 40499-AC8 from the Donors of the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society to P. Mann. We thank S. Talukdar, D. Goddard, and R. Erlich for valuable reviews. The authors acknowledge the financial support for publication costs provided by the University of Texas at Austins Geology Foundation and the Jackson School of Geosciences. University of Texas, Institute for Geophysics Contribution 1775.

Copyright #2006. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved. Manuscript received February 19, 2005; provisional acceptance April 21, 2005; revised manuscript received September 28, 2005; final acceptance October 14, 2005. DOI:10.1306/10140505038

Editors Note
Color versions of figures may be seen in the online version of this article.

AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, no. 4 (April 2006), pp. 657 678

657

strike-slip faults and into Miocene rocks adjacent to the uplifted mountain ranges. Escaping oil has formed numerous surface seeps along the edges of the Maracaibo Basin.

INTRODUCTION The Gulf Caribbean region currently contains 5% of the total ultimate recoverable reserves of hydrocarbons on Earth (Horn, 2003) (Figure 1A). Venezuela has the largest reserves of hydrocarbons of all the hydrocarbon regions of the western hemisphere, with proved oil reserves of about 70 billion bbl oil and proved gas reserves of 147 tcf (Figure 1) (U.S. Geological Survey, 2000; Audemard and Serrano, 2001). These reserve estimates do not include the immense, unconventional reserves of the Orinoco heavy oil belt, with an estimated approximately 1200 billion bbl of

heavy and extra-heavy oil in place (Fiorillo, 1987; U.S. Geological Survey, 2000). The active tectonic setting of petroleum in Venezuela is complex. Several tectonic belts that include volcanic-arc, fore-arc, and back-arc basins are found offshore of the Venezuelan margin (Figure 2A). A west-toeast younging pattern of thrusts and lateral ramp faults and foreland basins onshore (Babb and Mann, 1999; Mann, 1999) (Figure 2A) were produced by diachronous oblique convergence between Caribbean arc terranes and the South American continental margin from Late Cretaceous (western area of Colombia) to the present (eastern area of Trinidad) (Figure 2B). This ideal combination of tectonic and stratigraphic events yielded one of the most prolific petroleum systems in the world. The 50,000-km2 (19,300-mi2) area of the Maracaibo Basin (Figure 3) is the most productive hydrocarbon basin in the CaribbeanSouth America region (Figure 1D). The ultimate total recoverable oil reserves

Figure 1. (A) Distribution of ultimate recoverable oil in the world; (B) distribution of recoverable oil in the world; (C) distribution of giant oil fields; and (D) ultimate oil reserves in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico (MMBOE). All data are from Horn (2003). 658 An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Figure 2. (A) Topographic-bathymetric map showing six main tectonic belts observed along the northern margin of South America: 1 = Venezuela basin; 2 = Leeward Antilles Aves Ridge; 3 = Grenada-Bonaire-Falcon basins; 4 = Lesser Antilles arc Cordillera de la Costa; 5 = Tobago-Carupano basins; 6 = Barbados accretionary prism Columbus basin Eastern Venezuela Basin Maracaibo Basin. (B) Inferred position of the leading edge of the Great arc of the Caribbean at 90 Ma = Late Cretaceous; 60 Ma = Paleocene; 50 Ma = Eocene; 35 Ma = Oligocene; 15 Ma = Miocene; 0 Ma = Holocene (modified from Lugo and Mann, 1995). Escalona and Mann 659

Figure 3. Oil fields, oil seeps, and major faults of the Maracaibo Basin. Most oil fields are located along major subsurface strikeslip faults, including the Icotea and Pueblo Viejo faults (map modified from Zambrano et al., 1971; location of oil and gas seeps are from Link, 1952).

are 44,188 billion bbl of hydrocarbon (Horn, 2003), and total cumulative oil production is more than 30 billion bbl of oil during its last 80 yr of commercial production history (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). The Maracaibo Basin is considered a supergiant oil field because it contains more than 10 giant oil fields, each with ultimately recoverable hydrocarbons greater than 500 million bbl (Halbouty, 2001; Mann et al., 2003). 660

The Maracaibo Basin is located in a triangular intermontane depression bounded by the Me rida Andes and Sierra de Perija (Figure 3). Eocene clastic rocks of the basin are the most prolific reservoirs for light and medium oil and account for 50% of the basins reserves (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Miocene clastic rock reservoirs include 44% of known reservoirs, whereas Paleocene, Cretaceous, and basement rocks

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

include 6% of the known reservoirs (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Eocene reservoirs are characterized by complex stratigraphic and structural traps formed during Eocene oblique convergence between the Caribbean and South American plates (Escalona, 2006; Escalona and Mann, 2006a, b), Miocene reservoirs are mainly found along the eastern edge (Bolivar Coast) of the present-day Maracaibo syncline and are affected mainly by east-west convergence (Taboada et al., 2000; Guzma n and Fisher, 2006) (Figure 3). Oil seeps fringing the Maracaibo Basin are indicative of the prolific and widespread petroleum system underlying the entire basin (Link, 1952) (Figure 3). The main objective of this article is to provide an overview of the petroleum system of the Maracaibo Basin in the context of its tectonic history. In this article, we summarize the most important tectonic events that affected the generation, migration, and trapping of hydrocarbons and integrate relevant hydrocarbon and geochemical observations presented by previous workers.

GEOLOGIC SETTING The sedimentary history of the Maracaibo Basin began during the Late Jurassic, with the deposition of riftrelated rocks (La Quinta Formation) in structural lows or half grabens controlled by linear, north-northeast striking normal faults (Maze, 1984; Lugo and Mann, 1995). During the Early Cretaceous Paleocene, a mixed clastic-carbonate platform developed across the area of present-day Maracaibo Basin (Figure 1). Thermal subsidence and tectonic quiescence of the passive margin led to sediment accumulation and the absence of deformation of the basin during this period (Lugo and Mann, 1995). The few structures present in the Maracaibo Basin during the Cretaceous formed by tectonic uplift of the Western and Central Cordilleras of Colombia (Figure 1). This uplift is responsible for an increase in subsidence by the end of the Cretaceous that resulted in deposition of thick marine shale of the Colo n Formation during the Maastrichtian (Lugo and Mann, 1995; Parnaud et al., 1995). During the late TuronianCampanian, the La Luna Formation was deposited in a shelf-slope setting under anoxic conditions. The La Luna Formation became the main source rock of northwestern South America (Renz, 1981; Bralower and Lorente, 2003). Late Paleocene and early to middle Eocene oblique convergence between the Caribbean plate and the northwestern margin of South America (Figure 2B)

produced a complex foreland wedge filled by clastic sediments in the northeastern part of the Maracaibo Basin (Stephan, 1977; Pindell and Barrett, 1990; Lugo and Mann, 1995). The foreland basin was characterized by an approximately 5-km (3.1-mi)-thick Eocene wedge of fluvial-deltaic sedimentation (Misoa Formation), where the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Maracaibo Basin are concentrated. Paleogene collision was characterized by northwest to southeast migration of the depocenter through time over a lateral distance of about 150 km (93 mi) (Stephan, 1985; Lugo and Mann, 1995; Escalona and Mann, 2006a). Isostatic rebound affected the central and eastern parts of the Maracaibo Basin and produced the widespread Eocene unconformity that exposed and subaerially eroded the central and northeastern parts of the basin until the end of the Oligocene (Escalona and Mann, 2003a, 2006a). Fluvial and shallow-marine sedimentation continued in the south and southwest areas of the Maracaibo Basin (Erlich et al., 1997). The Eocene unconformity represents the main seal above Eocene reservoirs, but it is locally breached by faulting, allowing the upward ascent of hydrocarbons into Miocene reservoirs at the basin edges (Figures 3, 4). The MioceneHolocene period is characterized by the uplift and erosion of the Sierra de Perija and the Me rida Andes on the western and southeastern flanks of the basin (Kohn et al., 1984; Shagam et al., 1984). The formation of the north-southtrending Maracaibo syncline (Castillo, 2001; Mann et al., 2006) represents the final stage of this uplift and convergence. The Maracaibo syncline closely controls the present-day geographic configuration of the basin and the location of its marginal oil seeps (Figure 3). The convergent structural styles seen on seismic lines at deeper levels in the basin are controlled by Oligocene and Miocene inversion of Eocene rift-related structures in the central part of the basin (Escalona and Mann, 2003b; Castillo and Mann, 2006; Duerto et al., 2006). Eocene inversion of riftrelated structures also caused faulting of lower Miocene rocks overlying Eocene reservoir rocks. Following a period of isostatic rebound during the Oligocene (Escalona, 2003; Escalona and Mann, 2006a), a phase of rapid Miocene Holocene subsidence began. Subsidence was caused by the uplift of the bounding Sierra de Perija and Me rida Andes mountain ranges that is, in turn, related to the convergence and subduction of the Caribbean plate and collision of the Panama arc in northwestern South America (Kellogg and Bonini, 1982; Taboada et al., 2000; Colmenares and Zoback, 2003; Corte s and Angelier, 2005). Escalona and Mann 661

PETROLEUM SYSTEMS Figure 3 shows the distribution of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin (Zambrano et al., 1971). Most Eocene reservoir rocks are spatially aligned with the north-southstriking Icotea and Pueblo Viejo faults, whereas most Miocene reservoirs rocks are clustered along the eastern and northeastern margin of the presentday Lake Maracaibo (Figure 3). Ninety four percent of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin are found within Eocene Miocene clastic rocks (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Only 6% of reservoirs are found within underlying CretaceousPaleocene carbonate rocks and basement. Figure 4 shows an east-west and a north-south interpreted seismic line in the central Maracaibo Basin, summarizing the main elements of the Maracaibo petroleum system from Cretaceous source rock to Eocene and Miocene reservoirs. The two interpreted seismic lines show the northeast thickening of the Eocene clastic wedge, the southwest thickening of the Miocene Holocene clastic wedge, and the main structural and stratigraphic controls of the basin inherited from the north-northeaststriking fault family.

Source Rocks Hydrocarbon source rocks in the Maracaibo Basin are Upper Cretaceous marine carbonate rocks (calcareous shales and argillaceous limestones) that make up the La Luna Formation of Cenomanian Campanian age. Previous geochemical studies show that the La Luna Formation is the source of 98% of the total oil reserves found in the Maracaibo Basin (Zambrano et al., 1971; Young et al., 1977; Renz, 1981; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). An additional 2% of the total oil reserve was derived from nonmarine coals and shales of the Paleocene Orocue Formation that are found in the southwestern part of the basin (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Yurewicz et al.1998). Gonza lez de Juana et al. (1980) proposed that Eocene and Miocene terrestrial source rocks, now deeply buried in the southern part of the basin, may act as additional source rock to the La Luna Formation. Geochemical analysis of Tertiary sedimentary rocks indicates no significant hydrocarbon potential for Eocene and Miocene shale, nor is there any evidence for oils correlated to this type of source rocks (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Tocco and Margarita, 1999). 662

Depositional Setting of Source Rocks of the La Luna Formation The La Luna Formation has been the subject of many previous studies since the beginning of the petroleum exploration in the Maracaibo Basin in the early 20th century. Previous studies that describe the depositional setting and composition of the La Luna Formation include the pioneering study of Renz (1981) and more recent works by Perez-Infante et al. (1996), Erlich et al. (1999a), Erlich et al. (2000), and a source rock conference convened by SEPM and Petro leos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) (Bralower and Lorente, 2003). Figure 5 shows a stratigraphic chart with the position of the La Luna Formation in the Cretaceous sequences of the Maracaibo Basin, its isopach, and its typical welllog response. The La Luna Formation was deposited over a period of approximately 20 m.y., extending from the upper Cenomanian to upper Campanian (Figure 5). Its thickness ranges from 60 m (196 ft) beneath the southern part of the basin to 150 m (492 ft) beneath the northern part of the basin (Renz, 1981; Lugo and Mann, 1995; Bralower and Lorente, 2003) (Figure 5B). The La Luna Formation was deposited in oxygendepleted bottom-water conditions in a shelf-to-slope marine environment (Perez-Infante et al., 1996), influenced by episodic bottom currents, debris flows, turbidites, faulting, and intermittent upwelling conditions (Macsotay et al., 2003; Zapata et al., 2003). Paleowater depth of the La Luna Formation is interpreted to have been more than 40 m (131 ft) in a deep shelf setting, ranging from below storm-wave base (Macsotay et al., 2003) to a depth of several hundred meters (Boesi and Goddard, 1991; Parra et al., 2003). Figure 6 shows the paleogeographic reconstructions for the La Luna Formation in the Maracaibo Basin during the CenomanianCampanian (Erlich et al., 1999a). The structural configuration of the basin during the Late Cretaceous was possibly influenced by uplift of the Central Cordillera of Colombia (Renz, 1981; Erlich et al., 1999a; Macsotay et al., 2003) (Figure 6). Renz (1981), using cross sections from outcrops along the mountain range bounding the Maracaibo Basin, identified basement paleohighs (e.g., Me rida arch) and basins (e.g., Machiques, Uribante, and Barquisimeto) in the areas surrounding the Maracaibo Basin (Figure 6A). These paleohighs produced the thickness variations in Cretaceous passive-margin sediments, including the La Luna Formation in the south and southwestern areas of the basin (Renz, 1981). The most controversial of these geological features is the Me rida arch in the southern and central regions

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Escalona and Mann

Figure 4. (A) Interpreted east-west seismic line in the Maracaibo Basin. The section shows the main structural and stratigraphic features of the Maracaibo Basin and its petroleum systems (see Figure 3 for location). Migration paths from source to reservoir are localized along major faults in the basin (e.g., Icotea fault, Pueblo Viejo, and A, B, and E faults). Hydrocarbon reservoirs are concentrated in structural highs beneath the Eocene unconformity and in the Miocene along the north and eastern flanks of the Maracaibo syncline. (B) Interpreted north-south seismic line in the Maracaibo Basin (see Figure 3 for location). Hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Miocene are concentrated in the updip part of the Miocene clastic wedge. Eocene turbidites provide good exploration targets north of the Burro Negro fault.

663

664

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

of the present-day Maracaibo Basin (Dewey and Pindell, 1986; Salvador, 1986). The existence and orientation of the Me rida arch is significant for petroleum systems because its existence likely controlled the distribution and thickness of Cretaceous source rock beneath the Maracaibo Basin. Two proposed orientations for the Me rida arch follow: 1. An arch perpendicular to the trend of the presentday Me rida Andes: This postulated arch would be parallel to other arches in the region like the northwest-southeast striking Bau l arch that outcrops east of the Andes and separates the Barinas basin from the Gua rico subbasin to the east (Figure 2). Cross sections along the Me rida Andes based on outcrop mapping by Renz (1981) and Salvador (1986) show thinning or absence of Lower Cretaceous rocks (R o Negro, Apo n, and Aguardiente formations), overlain by a thin section of Upper Cretaceous rocks (Maraca, La Luna, and Colo n formations). Isopach maps of Cretaceous rocks beneath the central Maracaibo Basin show Cretaceous rocks thinning 10 20 m (33 66 ft) in the south and central areas of Lake Maracaibo (Gonza lez de Juana et al., 1980; Lugo and Mann, 1995). Figure 5B shows an isopach of the La Luna Formation from Lugo and Mann (1995). The La Luna Formation thins approximately 10 m (33 ft) in the south-central part of Lake Maracaibo (dashed in Figure 5B). This subtle change in thickness is interpreted by Lugo and Mann (1995) as the continuation of the Me rida arch in the south and central areas of the Maracaibo Basin. 2. An arch parallel to the trend of the present-day Me rida Andes and not affecting the area of the Maracaibo Basin: This proposed arch formed the Turonian uplift of the Cordillera Central of Colombia (Macsotay et al., 2003). This tectonic event might have produced partial tectonic inversion along preCretaceous rift-related faults, which followed the present-day strike of the Me rida Andes (Macsotay et al., 2003) and the trend of the Neogene rightlateral Bocono strike-slip fault zone (Schubert, 1982; Kellogg, 1984; Stephan, 1985; Dewey and Pindell, 1986; Audemard et al., 1999).

Small changes in thickness of passive-margin rocks between 10 and 20 m (33 and 66 ft) in the southcentral areas of Maracaibo Lake might be attributed to facies changes or depositional processes instead of paleostructural relief above a northwest-southeast striking arch. Integration of outcrop and subsurface data in both flanks of the Me rida Andes foothills and in southern Lake Maracaibo is required to solve the extent and orientation of the Me rida arch in the Maracaibo Basin. Geologic data used for interpreting the Me rida arch have been limited to outcrops in the Me rida Andes (Renz, 1981; Salvador, 1986) or using sparse wells and two-dimensional seismic lines in the southern Maracaibo Basin (Audemard, 1991; Lugo, 1991). A Santonian change in depositional environment to more oxygenated and cooler waters in the La Luna Formation (Tres Esquinas Member) suggests the advent of tectonic activity (Erlich et al., 2000; Bralower and Lorente; 2003; Parra et al., 2003; Zapata et al., 2003). Late Cretaceous tectonic activity was possibly related to the reactivation of faults beneath the basin or regional plate convergence in western Colombia that caused abrupt changes in the paleotopography and paleoclimate and ended passive-margin conditions. An increase in upwelling and more oxygenation of shelf waters of northern South America may be related to (1) the migration of the South American plate toward the Cretaceous intertropical convergence zone (Villamil et al., 1999); (2) an increase in freshwater runoff produced by the emergent Central Cordillera of Colombia (Erlich et al., 2003); and (3) the establishment of wet-dry cycles and submersion of paleobathymetric barriers for ocean circulation (Erlich et al., 2003). La Luna Source Rocks and Hydrocarbon Characteristics The La Luna Formation is considered a good to excellent, oil-prone source rock (Talukdar et al., 1986; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Yurewicz et al., 1998). Comparison of gas-chromatographic and biomarker characteristics of oils and La Luna source rock extracts shows that the La Luna Formation is the source rock for more than 98% of the oil accumulations in the Maracaibo Basin (Talukdar et al., 1986; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Yurewicz et al., 1998; Erlich et al., 1999b;

Figure 5. (A) Regional-stratigraphic chart of the Albian to Maastrichtian stages in four different areas of the Maracaibo Basin (I to IV) (modified from Erlich et al., 1999a; Castillo, 2001). (B) Location map showing locations I to IV of the stratigraphic chart and the total thickness in meters of the La Luna Formation from well logs (modified from Lugo and Mann, 1995). (C) Gamma-ray log of a well in the south Lake Maracaibo area showing a typical response from Albian to Maastrichtian (modified from Castillo, 2001). Escalona and Mann 665

Figure 6. Paleogeographic maps from Albian to Campanian (modified from Erlich et al., 1999a). The Cenomanian to Turonian period represents a mixed carbonate-clastic platform in the Maracaibo Basin areas. The middle to outer shelf depositional environment characterized the central Maracaibo Basin from the Albian to Campanian. 666 An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Tocco and Margarita, 1999; Gallango et al., 2002). The La Luna source rocks contain oil-prone type II kerogen and are rich in hydrogen content, with the bulk of the organic matter derived from algae and bacteria (PerezInfante et al., 1996). The average original total organic carbon (TOC) of La Luna source rocks in the Maracaibo Basin is 5.6% (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Maximum TOC values are locally as high as 16.7% (Erlich et al., 1999b). In the southwestern area of the basin, the average TOC is 4.3% (Catatumbo; Yurewicz et al., 1998; Llanos et al., 2000). In the Sierra de Perija area, TOC values range from 3.7 to 5.7% (Gallango et al., 2002) (Figure 7). In the Me rida Andes, TOC values range between 1.7 and 2% (Erlich et al., 1999b) (Figure 7). Oil quality variations in oils derived from La Luna source rocks are controlled by thermal maturity and in-reservoir alteration (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Unaltered oils vary in oil quality (API) according to their maturity: marginally mature oils range from 11 to 16j API; mature oils range from 20 to 39j API; and highly mature oils range from 37 to 55j API. With increasing maturity, API gravity and saturated hydrocarbon content increase, whereas vanadium, sulfur, and polar compounds decrease (Talukdar et al., 1986; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Unaltered oils are widely distributed in the Maracaibo Basin. The oils migrated into reservoirs during the Eocene and later during the Miocene Holocene (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Oil alteration in reservoirs occurred mainly as a result of biodegradation and oil-oil mixing (Talukdar et al., 1986; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Altered oils mostly occur in the central and northeastern reservoirs of the Maracaibo Basin (Figure 2). Biodegradation of oils in shallow Eocene reservoirs occurred during the Oligocene and in shallow Miocene reservoirs during the late MioceneHolocene. Biodegraded oils have low API (<25j), high sulfur, vanadium, polar compounds, and low saturates content. Oil-oil mixing occurred by natural mixing of oil that migrated in the MioceneHolocene. Strongly biodegraded oil is derived form earlier migrated oil found in Eocene and Miocene reservoirs (Figure 4). In addition to these alteration processes, Tocco and Margarita (1999) observed alteration of oils by migration fractionation in the Centro Lago field (Figure 3). Natural gas derived from the La Luna source in the Maracaibo Basin is mainly solution gas (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Free gas accumulations are uncommon in the Maracaibo Basin.

Burial History, Timing, and Amount of Petroleum Generated Figure 8 shows an integration of burial-history curves, compiled from several workers, and oil-generation curves calculated by Horn (2002). The oil-generation curves were derived using time-temperature indices based on Lopatin (1971) and Arrhenius reaction rates for oil generation using a type II kerogen as an Upper Cretaceous source rock (Horn, 2002). These plots illustrate the close relation between burial history, oil generation, and distribution of hydrocarbons in the basin. In the Maracaibo Basin, burial peak and maturation of the La Luna Formation occurred in two major pulses that were controlled by regional tectonic events: 1. Paleogene (6040 Ma) subsidence event: Cretaceous rocks were deeply buried to depths of 4 5 km (2.5 3.1 mi) in the central and northeastern areas of the Maracaibo Basin. These depths reach the thermal maturation window (Zambrano et al., 1971; Gonza lez de Juana et al., 1980) (Figure 8, well locations A, E, G, and H). Paleogene tectonically induced subsidence was responsible for the creation of a depocenter along the northeastern margin of the basin (Escalona and Mann, 2003a). Overmature source rocks of the La Luna Formation and the main Paleogene depocenter are located along the northeastern margin of the Maracaibo Basin, roughly parallel to the trace of the northweststriking Burro Negro fault zone (Figures 7, 8) (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Escalona and Mann, 2003a, 2004, 2006a). By late EoceneOligocene, the northnortheastern areas of the basin had generated most of the oil that is now being exploited (Figures 7, 8, well locations A, E, G, and H) (phase 1 of Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). 2. Miocene Holocene (200 Ma) subsidence event: Cretaceous and Paleocene source rocks were buried to depths of 26 km (1.23.7 mi) in the southwestern areas of the Maracaibo Basin. This burial event initiated a post-Eocene period for hydrocarbon generation (Figure 8, well locations B G). The central and south-southwestern areas of the Maracaibo Basin have generated less than 50% of their potential oil (Horn, 2002) (Figure 7). This part of the basin entered its peak of oil generation during the Miocene (2015 Ma, Figures 7, 8, well locations CF). Total organic carbon values of more than 2% in the south-southwest areas of the Maracaibo Basin (Figure 7) indicate high potential for continuing oil generation in this region. Escalona and Mann 667

Figure 7. Distribution in percentages of hydrocarbon generated by La Luna Formation source rocks in the Maracaibo Basin based on calculations by Horn (2002). Total organic carbon (TOC) values were taken from the following sources: Llanos et al. (2000), Erlich et al. (1999b), Yurewicz et al. (1998), and Gallango et al. (2002). Distribution of oil seeps from Cretaceous and Paleocene source rocks is taken from Link (1952). 668 An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Reservoir Rocks Reservoir rocks in the Maracaibo Basin are found throughout the stratigraphic section and range from fractured basement metamorphic rocks to shallow, unconsolidated, Miocene rocks. Structural traps are controlled by a variety of features, including normal faults, inverted faults on the flexed continental plate (Harding and Tuminas, 1989; Escalona and Mann, 2003b), folds in the foreland basin, and subsurface strike-slip faults forming north-south anticlines (Escalona and Mann, 2003b). All trap types were charged with hydrocarbons from underlying Cretaceous source rocks of the La Luna Formation (Zambrano et al., 1971; Gonza lez de Juana et al., 1980; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994; Erlich et al., 1999a). Stratigraphic traps are found in heterogeneous, mixed fluvial, and tidal-dominated deltaic systems defining regressive-transgressive cycles on the Eocene Maracaibo shelf and nearshore to fluvial Miocene sandstone rocks (Guzma n and Fisher, 2006). Major reservoir facies are stacked distributary channels and tidal bars (Maguregui, 1990; Ambrose et al., 1995; Escalona, 2003). Hydrocarbon reservoirs can be classified in three main types: 1. Sub-Eocene reservoirs (Figures 9, 10): These reservoirs are located in deeply buried Cretaceous limestone and Paleocene sandstone in central and southern Maracaibo Basin (Figure 9A, D) and in less deeply buried Cretaceous limestone and basement rocks in northwestern areas of the basin (Figure 10H). Reservoirs include fractured rocks (basement and Cretaceous limestone) associated with the reactivation of north-south strike-slip, northwest-southeast striking normal faults (Figure 10B, D) and thrusts (Figure 9A, C) related to the uplift of the Me rida Andes (Castillo and Mann, 2006). 2. Eocene reservoirs (Figures 10, 11): These are the most prolific reservoir rocks in the Maracaibo Basin. They are characterized by structural traps associated with anticlines formed by strike-slip reactivation of north-northeast striking faults (e.g., Icotea and Pueblo Viejo faults and their related northwestsoutheast normal faults; Escalona and Mann, 2003b). Traps also formed in fluvial-deltaic (tide-influenced) sandstone facies traps truncated by the Eocene unconformity (cf. Figures 10E, H; 11K, L). The most productive Eocene reservoirs are located in the central and northeastern regions of the Maracaibo Basin. 3. Miocene reservoirs (Figure 11I, L): These form the second most prolific reservoirs in the Maracaibo

Basin. The reservoirs are mainly fluvial sandstone facies located in anticlines of early Miocene age (reactivation of Eocene structures, Figure 11J, L) and stratigraphic wedges beneath the Eocene unconformity (Figure 11I).These productions occur along the northeastern shore of the Maracaibo Lake, near the trace of the Burro Negro fault (Figures 3, 8). Where no structural or stratigraphic traps existed, oil escaped to the surface and formed seeps that outline the edges of the Maracaibo Basin (Figures 3, 8). Migration and Trapping The petroleum system evolution of the Maracaibo Basin is summarized in four schematic cross sections in Figure 12. Hydrocarbon migration and trapping occurred in two main, tectonically controlled phases as previously proposed by Zambrano et al. (1971), Gonza lez de Juana et al. (1980), Talukdar et al. (1986), and Talukdar and Marcano (1994). 1. Carbonate platform phase (Late Cretaceous Paleocene) (Figure 12A): During this phase, the La Luna Formation source rock was deposited on a shallow, passive-margin, shelf-to-slope environment. It thickness ranges from 40 to 150 m (131 to 492 ft) (Figure 5B). Carbonate thickness variations were controlled by minor basement relief of underlying pre-Cretaceous structures like the Me rida arch. 2. Foreland phase (early Eocene) (Figure 12B): Oblique collision between the Caribbean and South American plates formed an asymmetric wedge of fluvialdeltaic Eocene rocks that were deposited in a foreland basin (Lugo and Mann, 1995; Escalona and Mann, 2006a). Cretaceous source rocks were buried to depths of 5 km (3.1 mi) in the north-northeastern part of the Maracaibo Basin and reached the oil window. A pull-apart basin controlled by reactivated Jurassic north-northeast striking faults formed in the central Maracaibo Basin (Icotea subbasin; Escalona and Mann, 2003b). Strike-slip faults provided vertical pathways for hydrocarbon migration from Cretaceous source rocks (La Luna Formation) to Eocene reservoir sands. The deeply buried Icotea pull-apart basin provides an alternative setting for hydrocarbon generation above deeply buried Cretaceous rocks (Figures 4; 12B, C) (Escalona and Mann, 2003b). Vertical displacement of major strike-slip faults bounding pull-aparts allowed juxtaposition of Cretaceous source rocks and Eocene reservoir rocks (Figure 4). Anticlinal traps Escalona and Mann 669

670

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

formed during creation of the pull-apart basin are sealed by the Eocene unconformity (Escalona and Mann, 2003b). The regional north-northeast dip of the basin contributed to updip oil migration toward the central areas of the Maracaibo Basin, where higher quality fluvial and deltaic reservoir facies are present (Escalona, 2003; Escalona and Mann, 2006). Trapping beneath the Eocene unconformity in the south-central Maracaibo Basin also occurs in fluvial-dominated reservoirs of Eocene age (Escalona and Mann, 2006b) (Figures 4B, 10). 3. Isostatic rebound phase (late EoceneOligocene) (Figure 12C): During the Oligocene, most of the Maracaibo Basin was subaerially exposed and eroded by isostatic rebound that followed the end of the convergence foreland basin phase. This period of rebound and erosion lasted approximately 20 m.y. in the central parts of the basin and is characterized by the loss of hydrocarbons to the surface (Talukdar and Marcano, 1994). Furthermore, biodegradation of oils occurred because of the invasion of meteoric waters into shallowly buried Eocene reservoirs (Bockmeulen et al., 1983; Talukdar and Marcano, 1994) (Figure 12C). 4. Maracaibo syncline phase (Miocene Holocene) (Figure 12D): This phase of basin development was characterized by uplift of the Sierra de Perija and the Me rida Andes, the formation of the north-south trending Maracaibo syncline (Castillo and Mann, 2006), and early Miocene inversion of Eocene structures in the central part of the basin. In contrast to the Eocene, the Neogene depocenter was located in the southern Maracaibo Basin, where continental facies pinch out to the east-northeast to form major stratigraphic traps (Figures 3, 4, 11). The migration of depocenters from the northeastern basin during the Eocene to the south-southeastern basin in the MioceneHolocene contributed to a second pulse of maturation of Cretaceous source rocks of the La Luna Formation in the central and southern parts of the Maracaibo Basin (Figure 8). This new period of oil generation charged reservoirs of Eocene and Miocene age. For reservoir rocks younger than Eocene, hydrocarbon migration occurred along fault zones that

breached the Eocene unconformity (Figure 12). These diverse migration paths allowed east-northeast updip migration from the deep part of the basin to Miocene reservoirs (Figures 4, 12D). In Miocene reservoir rocks, hydrocarbons are mainly trapped by (1) inverted structures (Figures 4, 11I, L; 12D); (2) stratigraphic wedges to the northeast (Guzma n and Fisher, 2006) (Figures 4, 11); and (3) seeps to the east, west, and south of the Maracaibo syncline (Zambrano et al., 1971; Gonza lez de Juana et al., 1980) (Figures 3, 8).

CONCLUSIONS The complex interplay of deformation, burial, and sedimentation in the Maracaibo Basin during the Cretaceous and Tertiary combined to make the basin one of the most effective and prolific petroleum systems on Earth. Deposition and distribution of ideal source and reservoir rocks were stratigraphically and structurally controlled by multiple tectonic events that led to hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation. The main conclusions of this review include the following: 1. Geochemical analysis reveals that more than 98% of the oil accumulation of the Maracaibo Basin was sourced by the CenomanianCampanian La Luna Formation. The La Luna Formation was deposited under anoxic conditions with intermittent tectonic and depositional events, including reworking by bottom currents, and entry of turbidites and debris flows into the basin. 2. Three main tectonic phases of deformation are responsible for the multiphase evolution of the petroleum system in the Maracaibo Basin:  Phase 1: Paleogene oblique collision between the Caribbean and northwestern South America: The Maracaibo passive margin during the Paleocene early Eocene created an ideal mechanism for the rapid burial and maturation of the source rock, the La Luna Formation in the northeastern area of the Maracaibo Basin (Figures 7, 8, 12). The Paleogene foreland basin and a major right-lateral ramp fault (Burro Negro fault) controlled the initial generation and migration event of hydrocarbons

Figure 8. Burial histories of wells in the Maracaibo Basin based on data compiled by Horn (2002) from the following sources: (A) Sanchez (1993), (B) Delgado (1993), (C) Molina (1992), (D) Molina (1993), (E) Ramirez and Marcano (1992), and (F H) Lugo and Mann (1995). The percentage of hydrocarbon generation using Lopatins (1971) equations for a type II kerogen source rock basin is based on calculations by Horn (2002) for each well location. Shaded areas represent main periods of tectonic subsidence. Escalona and Mann 671

672

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Figure 9. Examples of four sub-Eocene hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin. These reservoirs are located in deeply buried and fractured metamorphic basement rocks and in Cretaceous and Paleocene sedimentary rocks ( > 5-km [> 3.1-mi] depth). The inset map in the upper right corner (modified from PDVSA pamphlets, 1995 and 1996, unpublished data) provides the location of the sections.

Escalona and Mann

Figure 10. Examples of Eocene hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin. Eocene clastic rocks are the most prolific reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin and are concentrated mainly in the central and northeastern areas of the basin along north-northeaststriking faults. The inset map in the upper right corner (modified from PDVSA pamphlets, 1995 and 1996, unpublished data) provides the location of the sections.

673

674

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Figure 11. Examples of Miocene Holocene hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Maracaibo Basin. These reservoirs are located mainly in the north and northeastern areas of the Maracaibo Basin. The most prolific reservoirs are located along the northeastern coastline of the present-day Lake Maracaibo (Bolivar Coast) and along the trace of the Burro Negro fault zone. The inset map in the upper right corner (modified from PDVSA pamphlets, 1995 and 1996, unpublished data) provides the location of the sections.

Figure 12. Summary of four main tectonic phases controlling the petroleum system of the Maracaibo Basin: (A) carbonate platform phase; (B) foreland basin phase; (C) isostatic rebound phase; and (D) Maracaibo syncline phase.

in the Maracaibo Basin. The source rock entered the oil window in the northeastern part of the basin adjacent to the Burro Negro fault zone (Figures 7, 8). The fault was the approximate

southern boundary of the Paleogene depocenter and fold-thrust belt located north of the fault. Hydrocarbons migrated updip and southward into the platform using strike-slip and normal Escalona and Mann 675

faults as pathways. Hydrocarbons were trapped in reservoir facies located within different structural highs. The La Luna Formation source rock in the northen part of the basin is presently in an overmature stage because of its deep (>5 km; >3.1 mi) burial (Figures 7, 8).  Phase 2: Late EoceneOligocene isostatic rebound: Isostatic rebound was related to the release of convergent stresses as the collision progressed eastward and southeastward of the Maracaibo Basin. Hydrocarbons trapped during this period in near-surface settings may have undergone biodegradation.  Phase 3: Uplift of the Sierra de Perija and Me rida Andes: This regional uplift is the main tectonic mechanism responsible for the inversion of the basin depocenter and creation of the second mature area of the La Luna source rock in the southern part of the basin (Figure 7). The main clastic depocenter tilted from the northeast to the southsouthwest during the Miocene to Holocene. The La Luna Formation source rock entered the oil window across the entire Maracaibo Basin. Eastwest convergence formed the Maracaibo syncline, reactivated major strike-slip faults as reverse faults that breached the Eocene unconformity (Figure 12D). The hydrocarbons used fault breaches in the Eocene unconformity to migrate updip from Eocene to Miocene reservoirs along the flanks of the basin (Figure 4). The La Luna source rocks in the south-central areas of the basin are still in the mature to early mature stage and, therefore, still have significant remaining hydrocarbon generation potential (Figures 7, 8). 3. The Maracaibo Basin has a promising hydrocarbon discovery potential in the mostly undrilled deeper structural and stratigraphic traps of the central and eastern basin (e.g., Icotea and Pueblo Viejo subbasins) (Figure 4A). More than 14 billion bbl of medium to light oil of ultimate recoverable reserves are predicted to be produced from these areas (U.S. Geological Survey, 2000).

REFERENCES CITED
Ambrose, W., E. Ferrer, S. Dutton, F. Wang, A. Padron, W. Carrasquel, J. Yeh, and N. Tyler, 1995, Production optimization of tide-dominated deltaic reservoirs of the lower Misoa Formation (lower Eocene), LL-652 Area, Lagunillas field, Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela: University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Report of Investigations 226, 46 p.

Audemard, F. A., J.-C. Bousquet, and J. Rodriguez, 1999, Neotectonic and paleoseismicity studies on the Urumaco fault, northern Falcon Basin, northwestern Venezuela: Tectonophysics, v. 308, p. 23 35. Audemard, F. E., 1991, Tectonics of western Venezuela: Ph.D. dissertation, Rice University, Houston, 245 p. Audemard, F. E., and I. Serrano, 2001, Future petroliferous provinces of Venezuela, in M. Downey, J. Threet, and W. Morgand, eds., Petroleum provinces of the twenty-first century: AAPG Memoir 74, p. 353 372. Babb, S., and P. Mann, 1999, Structural and sedimentary development of a Neogene transpressional plate boundary between the Caribbean and South America plates in Trinidad and the Gulf of Paria, in P. Mann, ed., Caribbean basins: Sedimentary basins of the world: Amsterdam, Elsevier Science B. V., v. 4, p. 495 557. Bockmeulen, H., C. Barker, and P. Dickey, 1983, Geology and geochemistry of crude oils, Bolivar coastal fields, Venezuela: AAPG Bulletin, v. 67, p. 242 270. Boesi, T., and D. Goddard, 1991, A new geological model related to the distribution of hydrocarbon source rocks in the Falco n basin, northwestern Venezuela, in K. Biddle, ed., Active margin basins: AAPG Memoir 52, p. 303 319. Bralower, T., and M. Lorente, 2003, Paleogeography and stratigraphy of the La Luna Formation and related Cretaceous anoxic depositional systems: Palaios, v. 18, p. 301 304. Castillo, M., 2001, Structural analysis of Cenozoic fault systems using 3D seismic data in the southern Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 189 p. Castillo, M. V., and P. Mann, 2006, Cretaceous to Holocene structural and stratigraphic development in south Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, inferred from well and three-dimensional seismic data: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 529 565. Colmenares, L., and M. Zoback, 2003, Stress field and seismotectonics of northern South America: Geology, v. 31, p. 721 724. Corte s, M., and J. Angelier, 2005, Current states of stress in the northern Andes as indicated by focal mechanisms of earthquakes: Tectonophysics, v. 403, p. 59 75. Delgado, I., 1993, Lama field Venezuela, Maracaibo Basin, Zulia state, in N. H. Foster and E. A. Beaumont, compilers, Structural traps VIII: AAPG Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Atlas of Oil and Gas Fields, p. 271 294. Dewey, J., and J. Pindell, 1986, Neogene block tectonics of eastern Turkey and northern South America; continental applications of the finite difference method: Discussion and reply: Tectonics, v. 5, p. 697 705. Duerto, L., A. Escalona, and P. Mann, 2006, Deep structure of the Me rida Andes and Sierra de Perija mountain fronts, Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 505 528. Erlich, R., D. Pocknall, C. Yeilding, and M. Lorente, 1997, Chronostratigraphy, depositional environments, and reservoir potential of Eocene rocks, southern and central Me rida Andes (Maracaibo and Barinas/Apure basins), western Venezuela, in K. Shanley and B. Perkins, eds., Shallow marine and nonmarine reservoirs: Gulf Coast Section SEPM Foundation 18th Annual Research Conference, Houston, p. 93 106. Erlich, R., O. Macsotay, A. Nederbragt, and M. Lorente, 1999a, Palaecology, palaeogeography and depositional environments of Upper Cretaceous rocks of western Venezuela: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 153, p. 203 238. Erlich, R., S. Palmer-Koleman, and M. Lorente, 1999b, Geochemical characterization of oceanographic and climatic changes recorded in upper Albian to lower Maastrichtian strata, Western Venezuela: Cretaceous Research, v. 20, p. 547 581. Erlich, R., O. Macsotay, A. Nederbragt, and M. Lorente, 2000,

676

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin

Birth and death of the Late Cretaceous La Luna Sea, and origin of the Tres Esquinas phosphorites: Journal of South American Earth Sciences, v. 13, p. 21 45. Erlich, R., T. Villamil, and J. Keen-Dumas, 2003, Controls on the deposition of Upper Cretaceous organic carbon-rich rocks from Costa Rica to Suriname, in C. Bartolini, R. Buffler, and J. Blickwede, eds., The circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: Hydrocarbon habitats, basin formation, and plate tectonics: AAPG Memoir 79, p. 1 45. Escalona, A., 2003, Regional tectonics, sequence stratigraphy and reservoir properties of Eocene clastic sedimentation, Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 222 p. Escalona, A., 2006, Petrophysical and seismic properties of lower Eocene clastic rocks in the central Maracaibo Basin: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 679 696 Escalona, A., and P. Mann, 2003a, Paleogene depocenter along the northeast margin of the Maracaibo Basin: Structure along an exhumed Eocene age lateral ramp fault in western Venezuela (abs.): AAPG Annual Meeting Program, v. 12, p. A50 51. Escalona, A., and P. Mann, 2003b, Three-dimensional structural architecture and evolution of the Eocene pull-apart basin, central Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 20, p. 141 161. Escalona, A., and P. Mann, 2004, Regional tectonics, sequence stratigraphy and reservoir properties of Eocene clastic sedimentation, Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela (abs.): AAPG Annual Meeting Program, v. 13, p. A41. Escalona, A., and P. Mann, 2006a, Tectonic controls of the rightlateral Burro Negro tear fault on Paleogene structure and stratigraphy, northeastern Maracaibo Basin: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 479 504. Escalona, A., and P. Mann, 2006b, Sequence-stratigraphic analysis of Eocene clastic foreland basin deposits in central Lake Maracaibo using high-resolution well correlation and 3-D seismic data: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 581 623. Fiorillo, G., 1987, Exploration and evaluation of the Orinoco oil belt, in R. Meyer, ed., Exploration for heavy crude oil and natural bitumen: AAPG Studies in Geology 25, p. 103 144. Gallango, O., E. Novoa, and A. Bernal, 2002, The petroleum system of the central Perija fold belt, western Venezuela: AAPG Bulletin, v. 86, p. 1263 1284. Gonza lez de Juana, C., J. Iturralde, and X. Picard, 1980, Geolog a de Venezuela y de sus Cuencas Petrol feras: Caracas, Ediciones Foninves, Tomos I y II, 1031 p. Guzma n, J., and W. L. Fisher, 2006, Early and middle Miocene depositional history of the Maracaibo Basin, western Venezuela: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 625 655. Halbouty, M., 2001, Giant oil and gas fields of the decade 1990 2000: http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/halbouty03 /index.htm (accessed June 2003). Harding, T., and A. Tuminas, 1989, Structural interpretation of hydrocarbon traps sealed by basement normal block faults at stable flank of foredeep basins and at rift basins: AAPG Bulletin, v. 73, p. 812 840. Horn, M., 2002, Burial histories/basin subsidence, data on a CDROM, available from m.horn@sbcglobal.net. Horn, M., 2003, Giant fields 1868 2003, data on a CD-ROM, in M. Halbouty, ed., Giant oil and gas fields of the decade 1990 1999: AAPG Memoir 78, 340 p. Kellogg, J., 1984, Cenozoic tectonic history of the Sierra de Perija , Venezuela Colombia, and adjacent basins, in W. Bonini, R. Hargraves, and R. Shagam, eds., The Caribbean South American plate boundary and regional tectonics: Geological Society of America Memoir 162, p. 239 261.

Kellogg, J., and W. Bonini, 1982, Subduction of the Caribbean plate and basement uplifts in the overriding South American plate: Tectonics, v. 1, p. 251 276. Kohn, B., R. Shagam, and T. Subieta, 1984, Results and preliminary implications of sixteen fission-track ages from rocks of western Caribbean mountains, in W. Bonini, R. Hargraves, and R. Shagam, eds., The Caribbean South American plate boundary and regional tectonics: Geological Society of America Memoir 162, p. 415 421. Link, W., 1952, Significance of oil and gas seeps in world oil exploration: AAPG Bulletin, v. 36, p. 1505. Llanos, Y., C. Camposano, and F. Marcano, 2000, Modelado geoqu mico en el sur de la cuenca de Maracaibo, estado Zulia, Venezuela: VIII Simposio Bolivariano Exploracio n Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas, Caracas, p. 537 546. Lopatin, N., 1971, Temperature and geologic time as factors in coalification: Izvvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Geologicheskaya, v. 3, p. 95 106. Lugo, J., 1991, Cretaceous to Neogene tectonic control on sedimentation: Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 219 p. Lugo, J., and P. Mann, 1995, Jurassic Eocene tectonic evolution of Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela, in A. Tankard, S. Suarez, and H. Welsink, eds., Petroleum basins of South America: AAPG Memoir 62, p. 699 725. Macsotay, O., R. Erlich, and T. Peraza, 2003, Sedimentary structures of the La Luna, Navay and Querecual formations, Upper Cretaceous of Venezuela: Palaios, v. 18, p. 334 348. Maguregui, J., 1990, Evolution and reservoir rock properties of middle Eocene tide-dominated deltaic sandstones in eastern Lagunillas field, Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: M.Sc. thesis, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 172 p. Mann, P., 1999, Caribbean sedimentary basins: Classification and tectonic setting from Jurassic to present, in P. Mann, ed., Caribbean basins. Sedimentary basins of the world: Amsterdam, Elsevier Science B. V., v. 4, p. 3 31. Mann, P., L. Gahagan, and M. Gordon, 2003, Tectonic setting of the worlds giant oil and gas fields, in M. Halbouty, ed., Giant oil fields of the decade 1990 1999: AAPG Memoir 78, p. 15 105. Mann, P., A. Escalona, and M. V. Castillo, 2006, Regional geologic and tectonic setting of the Maracaibo supergiant basin, western Venezuela: AAPG Bulletin, v. 90, p. 445 477. Maze, W., 1984, Jurassic La Quinta Formation in the La Sierra de Perija , northwestern Venezuela; geology and tectonic environment of red beds volcanic rocks, in W. Bonini, R. Hargraves, and R. Shagam, eds., The Caribbean South American plate boundary and regional tectonics: Geological Society of America Memoir 162, p. 263 282. Molina, A., 1992, Rosario field Venezuela, Maracaibo Basin, Zulia state, in N. H. Foster and E. A. Beaumont, compilers, Structural traps VI: AAPG Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Atlas of Oil and Gas Fields, p. 293 304. Molina, A., 1993, Tarra field Venezuela, Maracaibo Basin, Zulia state, in N. H. Foster and E. A. Beaumont, compilers, Structural traps VI: AAPG Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Atlas of Oil and Gas Fields, p. 255 269. Parnaud, Y., Y. Gou, J. Pascual, M. Capello, I. Truskowski, and H. Passalacqua, 1995, Stratigraphic synthesis of western Venezuela, in A. Tankard, S. Suarez, and H. Welsink, eds., Petroleum basins of South America: AAPG Memoir 62, p. 681 698. Parra, M., L. Moscardelli, and M. Lorente, 2003, Late Cretaceous anoxia and lateral microfacies changes in the Tres Esquinas Member, La Luna Formation, western Venezuela: Palaios, v. 18, p. 321 333.

Escalona and Mann

677

Perez-Infante, J., P. Farrimond, and M. Furrer, 1996, Global and local controls influencing the deposition of the La Luna Formation (Cenomanian Campanian), western Venezuela: Chemical Geology, v. 130, p. 271 288. Pindell, J., and S. Barrett, 1990, Geological evolution of the Caribbean region: A plate tectonic perspective, in G. Dengo and J. Case, eds., The Caribbean region: Boulder, Geological Society of America, The geology of North America, v. H, p. 405 432. Ramirez, E., and F. Marcano, 1992, Ceuta-Tomoporo field, Venezuela, in M. Halbouty, ed., Giant oil and gas fields of the decade: AAPG Memoir 54, p. 163 173. Renz, O., 1981, Venezuela, in R. Reyment and P. Bengstone, eds., Aspects of mid-Cretaceous regional geology: New York, Academic Press, p. 197 220. Salvador, A., 1986, Comments on Neogene block tectonics of eastern Turkey and northern South America: Continental applications of the finite difference method by J. F. Dewey and J. L. Pindell: Tectonics, v. 5, p. 697 701. Sanchez, N., 1993, Los Lanudos field, Venezuela, Maracaibo Basin, Zulia state, in N. H. Foster and E. A. Beaumont, compilers, Structural traps VIII: AAPG Treatise of Petroleum Geology, Atlas of Oil and Gas Fields, p. 217 229. Schubert, C., 1982, Neotectonics of Bocono fault, western Venezuela: Tectonophysics, v. 85, p. 205 220. Shagam, R., B. Kohn, P. Banks, L. Dasch, R. Varagas, G. Rodriguez, and N. Pimentel, 1984, Tectonic implications of Cretaceous Pliocene fission-track ages from rocks of the circum-Maracaibo Basin region of western Venezuela and eastern Colombia, in W. Bonini, R. Hargraves, and R. Shagam, eds., Caribbean South American plate boundary and regional tectonics: Geological Society of America, p. 385 412. Stephan, J., 1977, El conta cto Cadena Caribe Andes Meriden os entre Carora y el Tocuyo (edo. Lara): Observaciones sobre el estilo y la edad de las deformaciones Cenozoicas en el occidente Venezolano: Memorias V Congreso Geolo gico Venezolano, Caracas, p. 789 815. Stephan, J., 1985, Andes et Chaine Caraibe sur La Transversal de Barquisimeto (Venezuela), Evolution geodynamique: Geodynamique des Caraibes, Symposium, Paris, Editions Technip, p. 505 529.

Taboada, A., L. Rivera, A. Fuenzalida, A. Cisternas, H. Phillip, H. Bijwaard, J. Olaya, and C. Rivera, 2000, Geodynamics of the northern Andes: Subductions and intracontinental deformation (Colombia): Tectonics, v. 19, p. 787 813. Talukdar, S., and F. Marcano, 1994, Petroleum systems of the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela, in L. Magoon and W. Dow, eds., The petroleum system From source to trap: AAPG Memoir 60, p. 463 481. Talukdar, S., O. Gallango, and M. Chin-A-Lien, 1986, Generation and migration of hydrocarbons in the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela: An integrated basin study, in D. Leythaeuser and J. Rullko tter, eds., Advances in organic geochemistry 1985: Part I: Organic Geochemistry, v. 10, p. 201 279. Tocco, R., and A. Margarita, 1999, Geochemical study of Misoa Formation crude oils, Centro Lago field, Lake Maracaibo, Western Venezuela basin: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 16, p. 135 150. U.S. Geological Survey, 2000, U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum Assessment 2000 Description and results: U.S. Geological Survey digital data series DDS-60 multidisc set version 1.1 2000, U.S. Geological Survey World Energy Assessment Team. Villamil, T., C. Arango, and W. Hay, 1999, Plate tectonic paleoceanographic hypothesis for Cretaceous source rocks and cherts of northern South America, in E. Barrera and C. Johnson, eds., Evolution of Cretaceous ocean-climate system: Geological Society of America Special Paper 332, p. 191 202. Young, A., P. Monaghan, and R. Schweisberger, 1977, Calculation of ages of hydrocarbon oils Physical chemistry applied to petroleum geochemistry I: AAPG Bulletin, v. 61, p. 573 600. Yurewicz, D., D. Advocate, H. Lo, and E. Hernandez, 1998, Source rocks and oil families, southwest Maracaibo Basin (Catatumbo subbasin), Colombia: AAPG Bulletin, v. 82, p. 1329 1352. Zambrano, E., E. Va squez, B. Duval, M. Latreille, and B. Coffinieres, 1971, S ntesis paleogeogra fica y petrolera del occidente de Venezuela: Memorias Cuarto Congreso Geolo gico Venezolano, Caracas, p. 483 552. Zapata, E., V. Padron, I. Madrid, V. Kertznus, I. Truskowski, and M. Lorente, 2003, Biostratigraphic, sedimentologic, and chemostratigraphic study of the La Luna Formation (late Turonian Campanian) in the San Miguel and Las Hernandez sections, western Venezuela: Palaios, v. 18, p. 367 377.

678

An Overview of the Petroleum System of Maracaibo Basin