Abstract

Hydrocarbon potential in the Guajira Basin is associated with two different processes for hydrocarbon generation: biogenic and thermogenic. Biogenic hydrocarbons are generated from immature source rocks exposed to bacterial activity. Thermogenic hydrocarbons are produced from source rocks that have attained a sufficient depth of burial and thermal maturity level.

Source rocks in the basin may include Cretaceous, Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene organic rich strata. The Cretaceous rocks can be equivalent to the La Luna Formation of the Maracaibo area with a kerogen type II. Source rock of Tertiary units can be type III, which give the basin its predominantly gas-prone character. Recent geochemical data indicate a late Cretaceous source rock in the deep offshore area in the western part of the basin in preserved stratigraphic sections associated with the South Caribbean deformed belt.