Abstract

The Oxfordian sands play is the third in importance, in oil production, offshore in the Bay of Campeche, preceded by the breccia of the Upper Cretaceous play and the Kimmeridgian oolitic banks.

There are three Oxfordian oil reservoirs in the Campeche Oriente project: Ek, Balam, and Lum. The three fields have remaining oil reserves of over 200 million stock tank barrels, monthly production increased of 180 million stock tank barrels, and oil whose density varies from 27–29° API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity.

Oxfordian age reservoirs are found in sand dune facies, with thicknesses of up to 150 m, set between two bodies of anhydrite, which have been documented by the seismic response generated by the contrast of sand enclosed between layers of anhydrite

Nowadays, there is a portfolio of 27 leads and prospects with a prospective resource that can vary from 200 to 2200 million stock tank barrels, with an average of 1100 million stock tank barrels.

The economic and strategic value of this play is that it can increase production quickly in two ways: the first is drilling wells in locations close to facilities, thus taking advantage of nearby infrastructure and accelerate the exploration activities close to infrastructure and border areas; and the second one is drilling deeper reservoirs under the fields adding early production of light oil.