Exploration Opportunities in the Pernambuco and Alagoas Basins
Carbonate Buildups in the Post-Rift Sequence of the Pernambuco Basin, NE Brazil: Oil Play
Implications*
Bruno Varela Buarque¹, José Antônio Barbosa², Jefferson Tavares Cruz Oliveira², Osvaldo Correia Filho², José Ricardo
Gonçalves Magalhães²
Search and Discovery Article #10854 (2016)**
Posted August 8, 2016
*Adapted from oral presentation given at AAPG 2016 Annual Convention and Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 19-22, 2016
**Datapages © 2016 Serial rights given by author. For all other rights contact author directly.
Laboratory of Seismic Stratigraphy, Department of Geology, University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil ([email protected])
2Laboratory of Seismic Stratigraphy, Department of Geology, University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Abstract
The Pernambuco Basin (PEB) is a 20,800-km² area located in the eastern continental margin of Northeast Brazil. This basin
represents one of the most prominent exploration frontiers in the deep waters of the Brazilian margin, with the best potential
residing in the Pernambuco Plateau region. We performed a detailed study of carbonate buildups within the post-rift sequences
of the PEB, which provides an important contribution to the Petroleum Potential of this marginal basin. This study is based on
an analysis of 143 2D seismic surveys that cover almost the entire plateau region. The methodology included a detailed
interpretation of 59 selected time-migrated seismic sections, application of post-processing filters to reduce the n/s ratio, and an
additional integrated analysis of potential geophysical surveys to distinguish magmatic extrusive structures that also affect the
post-rift sequences. Due to the lack of offshore wells, the age of the main interpreted seismic sequences were based on available
data from the onshore region of the PEB and available data from the offshore region of the Alagoas Basin. Thus, four main
seismic sections were defined: rift - (Barremian-Albian), Cretaceous post-rift (Albian-Maastrichtian), Lower Cenozoic post-rift
(Maastrichtian-Middle Miocene), and Upper Cenozoic post-rift (Middle Miocene-Recent). Carbonate buildups represent
structures extending up to 15 km long and up to 0.9 s (TWT) thick. They are abundant in the north and central portions of the
Pernambuco Plateau, and were formed over outer structural highs, salt domes, and magmatic buildings. These structures formed
from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian?-Maastrichtian) to the Neogene (Miocene). They consist of rimmed and isolated carbonate
platforms exhibiting typical progradation wedges related to eustatic cycles, and this interpretation allows for a preliminaryView entire presentation