Manuel Pubellier

A Discovery in the Bolivian Fold-and-Thrust Belt: a Classical Integrated Approach is far more Important than Cutting-edge Methods, but…

An exploration case study in the Bolivian sub-andean FTB is shown as an example of an integratedngeological approach from a regional study to block selection, exploration and successful drilling. In antectonic wedge setting where in- and out-of-sequence folding and thrusting have shaped the DevoniannSandstone traps between several efficient detachment levels, structural geology is fundamental. Evennmore, as seismic data is of very poor quality.nThe multi-disciplinary regional approach involved a full review of the play (reservoir facies, age andnpaleogeography, petroleum system evaluation and post-mortem analysis) and cross-section buildingnand balancing, based on a full dataset and revised geological maps (remote sensing and fieldworkndata). Two extreme consistent structural hypotheses bearing strong implication on prospectivity havenbeen tested as surface data don’t reflect the complexity at depth.