Tectono-Stratigraphic Evolution of the Gulf of Venezuela

The Gulf of Venezuela is an underexplored area, located between the hydrocarbon-rich Maracaibo Basin, and the Caribbean related basins with emergent plays such as the Perla upper Oligocene to lower Miocene carbonates. Gravity data together with a map of the acoustic basement from the seismic data shows three main basement provinces. A western Paleozoic basement province with a continental affinity similar to those in the Guajira Peninsula and the Maracaibo Basin; a central province covering the area of the on- and offshore Urumaco trough with Cretaceous metamorphic rocks; and the most eastern province, with Cretaceous Caribbean arc related to the Leeward Antilles island arc system. Using an extensive seismic and well dataset, we characterized the tectonic phases, basin evolution, and the relationship of the Gulf of Venezuela with the Caribbean and Maracaibo affinities terranes. La Sierra de Perijá and main faults which are part of the Maracaibo basin are observed in the westernmost area (Maracaibo province) in the Gulf of Venezuela. The extension of the Maracaibo province towards the Gulf of Venezuela triggers promising exploration opportunities to those plays found in the north-western corner of the Maracaibo Basin.