(Schuepbach Energy Uruguay – SEU, 30.Oct.2017) — The Norte Basin is part of a huge sedimentary basin called Paraná Basin in Brazil and Paraguay, and called Chaco-Paraná Basin in Argentina. Together, they add up to an area over 1,200,000 km2.
Historically, efforts have been made to find oil in this huge region since the beginning of the 20th Century. Even though more than 175 exploratory wells were drilled, with differing outcomes, and more than 50,000 kilometers of 2D seismic exploration were completed, this is still considered an under-explored sedimentary basin, given the lack of available information and data relative to the subsoil.
In 1996, the first commercial gas accumulation was discovered in Brazil. The Barra Bonita reservoir (State of Paraná) was the first discovery of a commercial deposit in Paraná Basin.
Until then, the presence of gas and oil had only been registered in about 20 exploratory wells, but with no commercial significance.
The finding of Barra Bonita set a true milestone in oil and gas exploration in Paraná Basin, by confirming that at least one of the petroleum systems conceived for exploration was an active generator and accumulator.
This active petroleum system in Barra Bonita includes a source rock of Devonian age, a sandstone rock of Permian age as reservoir, a trap consisting of sills of Cretaceous age and a depth of approximately 3.500m.
Petroleum systems identified in Brazilian territory are correlated with those identified in Norte Basin, in particular, the analogous system found in Barra Bonita.
This situation motivated new exploratory efforts towards finding favorable conditions for the concentration and accumulation of hydrocarbon volumes for a potential commercial exploitation.
In Uruguay, the search for oil in Norte Basin dates back to 1950 until mid-1990s, with interruptions.
Among other studies, there are gravimetric surveys, 1,650m of 2D seismic exploration and 12 exploratory wells of which 2 (Yacaré-Artigas and Belén-Salto) showed evidence of gas.
At present, exploratory activities in the search for hydrocarbons are being conducted in Brazilian and Paraguayan territory in Paraná Basin. Meanwhile, authorities of the Mesopotamia and nearby Argentinean provinces have expressed their interest in opening a new call for bids to allocate areas for hydrocarbon exploration in the region of Chaco-Paraná Basin.
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