Tectonic, Sedimentation and Hydrocarbon Habitat of the Great Guyana-Suriname Offshore Basin: The Albian to Coniacian Play

Author(s): Peter Bartok, Bartok Inc. (presenter); Simon Oropeza, Independent Consultant; Charles Campbell, Accel Services Inc.

Precambrian Greenstone belt underlies a portion of the Guyana-Suriname Offshore Basin (GSOB) followed by Lower Paleozoic sediments deposited in a back arc setting and folded during the Caledonian and the Alleghenian orogenies. Gravity/magnetics aided in delineating the major tectonic features in the region. The Early Jurassic separation of the Florida Block and South America resulted in normal to attenuated crust followed by oceanic crust. The Atlantic rifting resulted in peri-cratonic rifts extending into central GSOB. New concepts on the tectonics of the region provide the basis for structural analysis of the basin and aided by seismic sequence stratigraphy. Of particular significance is the relationship between the Guyana Shelf, associated with the Waini “Arch” and the Demerara Platform. The transition between the two is being called the “Demerara Trough”. Santonian to Campanian canyons associated with faults/fractures, and linked to major rivers acted as conduits for high quality sand-rich slope and basin floor fans described on paleogeographic maps. The Albian facies of Northern South America are deltaic systems restricted to the platform interior (Stabroek) and carbonates (Potoco) with anoxic conditions. The Cenomanian/Coniacian organic-rich Canje Formation is the main source rock. The Cenomanian/Turonian kitchen was evaluated in detail based on available information, new estimates of thermal conditions and description of overpressure in the region. The revised kitchen and geochemical parameters provide for an estimate of basin’s resource potential.

Bio:

Peter Bartok, Bartok Inc., Petroskills, University of Houston

Peter earned a MSc from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and with 48 years of experience he has published over 25 papers.

His past experience includes Texaco (5 years), PDVSA (10 years), BP (10 years) and 23 years as a consultant. Along with working as a consultant at Bartok Inc. and Petroskills, he currently is Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston, where he teaches petroleum geology/geophysics and shale resource assessment. Peter is a member of AAPG, SEG and HGS.