Barrier bars are important stratigraphic traps for oil and/or gas because of deposition in relatively shallow and often agitated waters, which allow barriers to develop excellent primary porosity and high permeability. Barrier bars can be developed as component facies of other depositional systems such as deltas or as independent interdeltaic systems associated with a major delta. In each case, different facies relationships such as distributary channel, mouth-bar, distal-bar, and prodelta facies would be present in a deltaic setting. Barrier bars, lagoons, washover-fans, and nonmarine facies could occur in an independent interdeltaic system. Different sand geometry patterns and reservoir characteristics are found in each system. In the Cerro Negro area, the sedimentary p rameters are composite sand bodies, Ophiomorpha-type burrows, bio-turbation structures, shell fragments, and an interfingering of brackish and shallow-marine fauna. Seven continuously cored wells and more than 100 geophysical well logs were used to determine lithofacies associations and to construct computer-drawn maps. These data were used to propose and support an independent interdeltaic barrier-bar system as the depositional model for the Cerro Negro area. Barriers were found to be mainly parallel to a paleoshoreline, and to have porosity values greater than 20% and permeability values greater than 500 md. It is interesting to note that different rates of heavy oil production can be related to the facies present.

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