The Guyana-Suriname Basin: An Evolving Exploration Opportunity

The Guyana-Suriname Basin is a halfgraben Atlantic-margin basin on the northeast coast of South America (Figure 1). It was rated as the second most prospective unexplored basin in the world according to the USGS in its World Petroleum Assessment 2000. World class Canje source beds are in a mature position (Figure 2). The main reservoir targets are Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary basin floor fans, shelfmargin deposits and turbidites directly overlying mature source. Recent seismic combined with 1970s well control provides an exploration framework. Depth mapping of deep closures has eliminated the distortion/ velocity pull-up by an overlying shelf margin carbonate bank of Tertiary age. Large closures have been mapped and are associated with significant shows from 1975 drilling.