AAPG Memoir 74, Chapter 20: Foz do Amazonas Area, The Last Frontier for Elephant Hydrocarbon Accumulations in the South Atlantic Realm, by M. R. Mello, R. Mosmann, S. R. P. Silva, R. R. Maciel, and F. P. Miranda, Pages 403 - 414
from: AAPG Memoir 74: Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-first Century, Edited by Marlan W. Downey, Jack C. Threet, and William A. Morgan
Copyright 2001 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Chapter 20
Foz do Amazonas Area: The Last Frontier for Elephant Hydrocarbon Accumulations
in the South Atlantic Realm

M. R. Mello
Petrobrás
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

R. Mosmann
Consultant
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

S. R. P. Silva
Petrobrás
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

R. R. Maciel
Petrobrás
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

F. P. Miranda
Petrobrás
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT

In most areas of the South Atlantic, exploration is far from being mature because exploration in ultradeep water has just begun. Geochemical data suggest that similar organic-rich facies and oil types are found across the South Atlantic petroleum provinces and that they have undergone similar tectonic-stratigraphic evolution, allowing the application of a unified model for hydrocarbon provenance in basins on both sides of the Atlantic. Such similarities, when interpreted in a paleogeographic context, can help reveal details of unexplored petroleum systems.