Petroleum

Geology of
The
Cantarell Oil
Field
Josh Wymer
Taylor Campsey
John Wiggins
Chris Smith

General Information

Location
~75 km Offshore Yucatan
Peninsula, Mexico
Bay of Campeche
Sureste Basin
Campeche-Sigsbee
Sub-Basin

Field History
Discovered by local fisherman
Rudesindo Cantarell in 1976, who
noticed oil seepage on ocean
surface
Production began in 1979
Operated by Pemex - Mexicos
State Owned Petroleum Company
Accounted for 63% of Mexicos total
oil production in 2004

Production History
14.7 billion barrels produced to date
Estimated 20.3 billion barrels of oil in place with
a value of of $954.3 billion (at $47.01 USD/bbl)
Peak production of 2.1 million bbl/d in 2004
Production of 600,000 bbl/d in 2011
In 1999, Pemex launched the largest nitrogen
based IOR project ever attempted to combat
decreasing production rates caused by
decreasing reservoir pressure

Production

Regional Tectonic Setting

Cantarell: Basin Type and

Age

Basin Type: Passive Margin

Age: Late Jurassic
Basin History:

Opening of Gulf of Mexico provides framework (MidJurassic)

Chiapaneco event generated traps (Miocene/Early
Pliocene)
Transpressive deformation and thrusting towards NE
produced Cantarell

Stratigraphic Thickness: 792 m

Stratigraphic Cross-Section
\

Cantarell: Sedimentary Fill

Pliocene: Sandstone
Miocene: Sandstone
Oligocene: Sandstone
Eocene: Limestone/Sandy Shale
Paleocene: Sandy Shale
Upper Cretaceous: Conglomerate
Middle Cretaceous:
Limestone/Shale
Lower Cretaceous:
Limestone/Shale
Tithonian: Sandy Shale
Kimmeridgian: Limestone/Shale
Oxfordian: Limestone/Dolomite
Callovian: Coal

Petroleum System
Elements

Petroleum System Elements

__4 Elements__
1. Source Rock
2. Reservoir Rock
3. Seal Rock
4. Overburden Rocks

Source Rock
Edzna
Formation

Tithonianepoch
(Late Jurassic)
~150 Ma

Calcareous Shale

Type I Organic
Matter

Deposited in an
anoxic marine
depositional
environment

Oxfordian

Limestone
Type II

Total Organic Content

Reservoir Rock
Late Cretaceous
Period (66-100
Ma)
Dolomitic
sedimentary
breccia
Deposited in a
paleo-shelf
failure

Reservoir Rock Properties (Akal

Block)
Property

Value

Unit

8 %

2-3 md

656-984 ft

Oil-water contact depth

8910 ft

Gas-oil contact depth

6930 ft

Seal Rock
Created from
anticline fold
Akal block:
Paleocene
Epoch (60 Ma)

Shale

Sihil block:
Oxfordian Epoch
(157-164 Ma)

Limestone/
Dolomite

Overburden Rocks
Layers of
Miocene rocks
(5.3 - 23 Ma)
Pliocene/Pleis
tocene (0.1 5.3 Ma)
Thickness
ranges from
3000-6500 ft.

Petroleum System Processes

Trap Formation
The Cantarell structure was formed
during three key episodes of
deformation associated with wrench
tectonics:
Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous
extensional period
Normal faults displacing Tithonian (source),
Kimmeridgian and Lower Cretaceous
(reservoir) units

Miocene compressional period

Thrust-fold assemblage forms the structural
traps
Part of the deformation may be a result of
gravity-driven salt tectonics

Pliocene to Holocene extensional period

Several preexisting Jurassic-Cretaceous
normal faults reactivated
Formation of listric normal faults

Trap Formation
The Cantarell field is characterized by
having a high structural relief and it
produces out of four fault-bounded
blocks:
Akal - allochthonous thrusting block
fold
WNW-ESE orientation

Nohoch - allochthonous back thrust

West-vergent motion on an east-dipping
back thrust

Kutz - allochthonous structure

On crest of a downthrown fault block

Chac - located at the up-dip edge of

autochthonous tilted fault block against
west-dipping normal fault

Generation, Migration and

Accumulation

Three production plays within the

Tithonian-Cretaceous petroleum
system include:
1. Kimmeridgian
High-energy shelf environment

2. Cretaceous
Lower and Middle Cretaceous
basin environment
Upper Cretaceous slope
environment

3. Eocene
Submarine fan

. This two fracture systems shows

the best hydrocarbon
impregnation

Generation, Migration and

Accumulation
In the southern and
southeastern portions, the
traps can be found within the
hydrocarbon expulsion
kitchens
In the northern part, the
source rocks are immature
at the top of the producing
structures, which were
charged from laterally
located kitchens, within
respective drainage areas

Generation, Migration and

Accumulation
The time of hydrocarbon generation, migration and
accumulation was between 9 and 0 Ma
Migration efficiency averages 30%, depending on the
lithologies involved and their petrophysical
characteristics
Migration would have occurred mainly during the
MiocenePliocene with maximum kerogen maturity
reaching the gas window in the deepest parts of the
formation
Migration style is predominately vertical, in the north
eastern direction, and of high impedance

The Akal Block

At the north end of the
structure a west-dipping
normal fault drops part of it
down below the oil-water
contact
Gas-oil [-2100 m, -6930ft]
Oil-water [-2700 m, -8910ft]

Akal and Sihil geometeries

closely correlated due to
formation of Sihil which folded
Akal and increased its
structural relief

The Akal Block

A linear, east-dipping
normal fault traverses the
structure from its crest to
the southern tip
Defines the eastern
boundary of the block at
the southern end
Location of salt
evacuation
Contains more than 90% of
the fields oil reserves

Preservation Time and

Critical Moment
At least three erosion periods can be distinguished in the
Oligocene to Pleistocene interval because of the uplift of the
tectonic thrust front
The last structuring phase was between 11 and 3.4 Ma,
marking the start of the most recent extensional period that
formed trans tensional faulting affecting the over-thrusted
Mesozoic strata and continued until recent time
This resulted in sinstral antithetic faults and a dextral
synthetic fault system forming pull-apart mini basins that
had no influence on the Cretaceous-Jurassic traps and
suggests favorable timing of the migration and accumulation
periods for effective preservation

Cantarell Petroleum System Events Chart

180000000 160000000 140000000 120000000 100000000 80000000 60000000 40000000 20000000

petroleum SYSTEM EVENTS

0
Source Rock

Reservoir Rock

Seal Rock

Overburden Rock

Trap Formation

Gen/Migration/Accum

Preservation

Critical Moment

Petroleum System Processes

Conclusion
The Cantarell field is a part of the supercharged petroleum system
in the southern Gulf of Mexico, characterized by a high structural
relief.
This system is defined by widespread thermally mature Upper
Jurassic source rock, primarily carbonate reservoirs, and numerous
structural and stratigraphic traps formed by a complex
compressional system.
The timing of the hydrocarbon expulsion and accumulation relative
to the formation of the seal rocks, reservoir rocks, traps and the
deposition of overburden rocks indicates good hydrocarbon
entrapment and preservation.
Tectonic activity has been minimal since the critical moment about 9
Ma, and the field has been producing out of a relatively passive
setting since it was first drilled.

Future of the Cantarell

The Cantarell Field is an aging supergiant field that presents
multiple production challenges
The decline of the production in the Cantarell field is mostly
attributed to the rise in the oil-water contact and reduced reservoir
pressure
One possible solution is the implementation of foam EOR methods
along with the existing nitrogen gas recovery method
Foaming surfactant solution tests have been shown to alter the
existing wettability of reservoir rock, and improve recovery efficiency
in Cantarell wells

References

Aquino, Jose AL, Jose M. Ruiz, Marcos A. Flores, and Jesus H. Garcia. "The Sihil Field:
Another Giant below Cantarell, Offshore Campeche, Mexico." Search and Discovery.
AAPG, 2001. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Mitra, Shankar, Gerardo Correa Figueroa, Jesus Hernandez Garcia, and Antonio Murillo
Alvarado. "Three-dimensional Structural Model of the Cantarell and Sihil Structures,
Campeche Bay, Mexico. AAPG, 2005. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Daltaban, T.S. Lozada, A. Miguel, Villavicencio, Antonio, P., Torres, F. Marcos. Managing
Water and Gas Production Problems in the Cantarell: A Giant Carbonate Reservoir in Gulf
of Mexico, Paper SPR 117233 presented at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum
Exhibition and Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 3-6 November 2008

Guzman, Marcus S.P. 2013. Review of A Forgotten Technology with High Potential The
World Largest Nitrogen Based IOR Project in the Supergiant Field Cantarell, Mexico,
Paper SPE 171239 presented at SPE Russian Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
Technical Conference held in Moscow, Russia, October 2014

References contd

Talwani, Manik, Ph. D.Oil and Gas in Mexico: Geology, Production Rates and Reserves,
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Rice University. April 29, 2011.
http://bakerinstitute.org/files/537/

Limon-Hernandez, T., Garza-Ponce, G., Lechuga-Aguinaga,C,Status of the Cantarell Field

Development Program: An Overview, Paper OTC 13175 presented at Offshore
Conference, Houston, Texas, 30 April-3 May 2001

Pemex Exploracion y Produccion. 2009 hydrocarbon reserves of Mexico. Pemex Investor

Relations. http://www.ri.pemex.com/files/content/Book%2020091.pdf.

Maria A. Romero I., Jose Ruiz M., Luis M. Medrano M., Juan Duran G., Roberto Rojas R.,
Ismael Gutierrez M., Olfer Baltazar Ch. Revitalized Tithonian-Cretaceous Petroleum
System (!), Offshore Campeche, Mexico. AAPG Datapages/Archives. 50th Vol. The Gulf
Coast Association of Geological Societies, 2002: 663-67. Datapages, Inc. 24 Mar. 2015.

References contd

Abbaszadeh, M, Rodriguez, F. Yuan, C. Pope, G., Single-Well Sumution Study of Foam

EOR in Gas-Cap Oil of the Naturally-Fractured Cantarell Field, Paper SPE 129867
presented at the SPE Improved Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, USA, 24-28 April 2010