Access and Exploration Opportunities – A View of the Potential in Frontier and Mature Basins

The continued search for commercial accumulations of hydrocarbons has often led geoscientists to believe that the remaining future potential for exploration in frontier and mature basins is diminishing with time. However, a brief overview of frontier, emerging, and mature basins around the world would suggest that several opportunities still remain. In 1952, Wallace Pratt summarized this pessimistic view of individuals and companies in the E&P industry noting, ‘We have persistently underestimated the amount of oil and gas that have been stored up in the Earth’s crust.’ A brief overview of six regions (East Africa, Equatorial South America, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and the Gulf of Mexico) where the exploration activity ranges from frontier to mature suggests there is compelling evidence for optimism and future success. The purpose of this overview is to highlight a sample of potential key opportunities in each area and demonstrate the importance of gaining a regional perspective in evaluating exploration/access opportunities. In many basins, as exploration matures and wells are drilled deeper stratigraphically as well as in greater water depths new petroleum systems are often identified. An exploration strategy that follows a ‘bottoms-up’ approach provides the framework and context to calibrate, compare and rank opportunities basin by basin on a global basis.