1995 Bolivian Source Rock

THE BOLIVIAN SOURCE ROCKS
SUB ANDEAN ZONE

MADRE DE DIOS. CHACO
I. MORETTl1 and E. DiAl MARTiNEZ

Convention YPFB (Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos)/ORSTOM
- Institut Franc;:ais de Recherche
2
Scientifique pour Ie Developpement en Cooperation
Une base de donnees geochimiques

et 1995 a YPFB (Yacimientos
a ete mise en place entre 1994
Petrolfferos
de regrouper les connaissances
Fiscales Bolivianos)
travail a ete fait dans Ie cadre de la convention
G. MONTEMURRO, E. AGUILERA and M. PEREZ

Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos3
afin
sur les roches meres de Bolivie. Ce

de cooperation
lie depuis 1987 YPFB et I'ORSTOM
-Institut
Scientifique pour Ie Oeveloppement
en Cooperation.
qui
Franc;ais de Recherche
L'etablissement
de cette base de donnees a permis une synthese du potentiel petrolier du pays, la partie concernant
subandine
Ie bassin de Madre de Dios, la zone
et Ie Chaco, c'est-a-dire
toute la zone potentiellement
petroliere du pays, hors Altiplano, est ici presentee. La base contient

actuellement
les analyses d'un peu plus de 3000 echantillons.
Les roches meres sont PaleozoIques

contexte de bassin d'avant-pays
ainsi que sur I'avant-pays
restreint initialement
et se sont deposees
; celui ci s'etendait
dans un
sur la cordillere
actuel du Silurien au Permien. Le bassin,
a la zone sud-ouest, s'est ensuite etendu vers
Ie nord. La bordure ouest n'est pas connue, elle devait se situer au

niveau de l'Altiplano actuel. La bordure est correspond
Bresilien affleurant
actuellement
biseaute Ie Paleozoique.
plate-forme
carbonatee
au bouclier
a I'est du pays et sur laquelle se
La sedimentation
s'approfondissant
breuses evidences de diamectites
est marine, il s'agit d'une

au Carbonifere.
De nom-
et de figures de resedimentation
ont ete notees a partir de la fin du Devonien. Le Trias marque la fin

de ces depots et se caracterise
par une erosion, sans doute due a
une phase de rifting avortee. La sedimentation

cee est presque toujours continentale
pas de structuration
Jurassique
et Creta-
et souvent eolienne,
iI n'y a
marquee. Au nord, dans la zone de Madidi, les
depots du Cretace terminal
(Maestrichian)
montrent des intercala-
tions marines riches en matiere organique (Fm Flora), alors que son
equivalent au centre et au Sud (Fm Cajones) est purement greseux.
Le soulevement
de la cordillere orientale demarre a la fin de l'Oligo-
cene (27 Ma, Sempere

deplace
ensuite
et al., 1990) et Ie front de compression
vers I'est. De l'Oligocene
terminal
se
au Miocene
moyen, la zone subandine actuelle se situe en position d'avant-pays

avec une sedimentation
restreinte et ne commence
a se structurer
qu'au Miocene superieur (11 Ma). Les epais depots dans Ie bassin
d'avant-pays
ainsi que dans les bassins intramontagneux
piggybacks'etendent
de type
du Miocene a l'Actuel. Bien que continentaux
ils ont pu etre dates par des tufs. Tous les pieges connus sont structuraux et lies a la deformation
actuelle.
La roche mere classique de la Bolivie est Ie Devonien
moyen, for-
mation Tequeje au nord, Limoncito au centre et Los Monos au sud

mais d'autres intervalles sont, localement,
(1) Permanent address: Institut FranQais Petrole, BP 311,
92506 Rueil -Malmaison Cedex, France.
(2) C.P. 9214, La Paz, Bolivia.
(3) C.P. 1659, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
tres importants.
Madre De Dios
Dans Ie nord du pays, cinq puits ont ete fores dans Ie bassin de Madre
de Dios ; ils ont revele un potentiel exceptionnel
REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRANCAIS DU PETROLE

VOl. 50, N 6, NOVEMBRE-DECEMBRE 1995
pour Ie Devonien
superieur,
Fm Tomachi, Ie potentiel
petrolier S2 enregistre
atteint
Sud
parfois 80 mg HC/g et une moyenne de 22 mg HC/g est prouvee sur
Dans Ie Sub Andin Sud, la serie paleozoIque est complete (fig. 2) et
250 m. La region n'est pas affectee par la compression
n'a que tres peu ete erodee au Trias. Le potentiel du Silurien para1t
est difficile de definir des structures

ou la vegetation
andine et il
dans cette zone amazonienne
est tres dense et done les lignes sismiques
teuses. Neanmoins
coO-
Ie SPI (Source Potential Index) de la zone de-
plus faible que dans la zone centrale. Etant mature avant la fin du
PaleozoIque
iI ne participe vraisemblablement
pas au systeme pe-
trolier actuel. L'ensemble des argiles du Devonien, formations Santa
passant les 20 11m2, I'exploration continue bien qu~ les decouvertes
Rosa, Icla, Humampampa,
certitiees ne soient pas encore economiquement
de roche mere similaires mais Ie pourcentage sable/argile varie selon
importantes.
Los Monos et Iquiri possede des qualites
les formations (fig. 12). Au total c'est la formation Los Monos, epaisse
Sub Andin Nord
de 800 m dont la moiM sont des argiles, qui est quantitativement
Dans Ie Sub Andin Nord, la richesse du Devonien superieur n'est pas
roche mere la plus importante. Comme ce niveau est aussi un niveau
prouvee
de decollement,
mais Ie Devonien
moyen
contient
un potentiel
moyen
la
iI arrive que I'epaisseur de la Fm. Los Monos depas-
(S1+S2 initial de 3 mg HC/g) sur environ 800 m. Dans Ie centre de
sent les 1 500 m dans les anticlinaux, comme par exemple celui de
cette zone, 2 puits ont ete fores, L1iquimuni et Tacuaral, qui n'ont pas
Camiri (fig. 14). Tous les echantillons
atteint leurs objectifs du fait de la complexite des structures mais ont
matures a overmatures
prouve Ie potentiel de la formation
defini. Un S2 moyen de 5 mg HC/g pour les argiles devoniennes
permienne
Copacabana.
Cette
provenant de cette zone sont
et Ie potentiel initial n'est done pas tres bien
formation est souvent calcaire mais contient dans cette zone environ
para1t realiste, ce qui conduit a un SPI de 511m2
300 m d'argile a sa base avec des S2 atteignant 40 mg HC/g et une
epaisseurs
connues.
compte tenu des
Les reservoirs de cette zone se situent dans
valeur moyenne de 10 mg HC/g (fig. 9). Ce facies riche en matiere
les sables du Devonien ainsi que les gres du Carbonifere.
organique
a ete tres exploree, 350 puits d'exploration
; la plupart des anticiinaux
ont montres des indices d'hydrocarbures,
ou meme produisent.
est relativement
local, dans Ie basin de Madre de Dios
ainsi que sur les bords du lac Titicaca, la formation Copacabana

essentiellement
est
calcaire. Le Silurien n'existe pas au nord, ou est tres
Cette zone
En
terme de reserves, les champs sont de taille limitee, Ie plus grand de
mince, mais il s'epaissit rapidement vers Ie sud et son potentiel doit
la zone a ete Camiri avec une production cumulee depuis sa decou-
etre pris en compte pour la zone d'isoboro.
verte dans les annees 20 de 50 Mb. II n'a pas encore ete definitive-
L'epaisseur des argiles
y depasse 500 m et Ie potentiel initial est de I'ordre de 6 mg HC/g.
ment explique
Au sud du Sub Andin Nord, la formation Copacabana
mediocre qualite des roches meres ou de problemes structuraux qui
perd ses qua-
si ces relativement
faibles reserves venaient
de la
lites de roche mere et les seules roches meres sont Ie Devonien et
limiteraient la taille des reservoirs. De meme, la grande quantite de
Ie Silurien. Dans la zone de Madidi, Ie Cretace peut aussi avoir ponc-
gaz trouvee alors que les roches meres sont marines et reputees a
tuellement une influence, les HI de la formation Flora sonttres eleves
huile reste a etudier. Une possibilite serait que les HC lourds generes
(plus de 700) et les S2 enregistres
atteignent
17 mg HC/g mais ces
initialement dans la roche mere n'aient pas ete expulses du fait d'un
argiles sont peu epaisses (environ 50 m) et sont plutot vues comme
manque de charge et que la migration ne commence que quand des
une couverture au dessus des reservoirs Jurassique du Beu. Globa-
produits plus legers sont formes. II en resulte un GOR anormalement
lement toute la zone du Sub Andin nord posse de un SPI de plus de
eleve. A I'appui de cette hypothese
10 11m2 qui pourrait meme etre plus eleve si Ie facies riche en matiere
pressions (Perez, 1994) dans les argiles roche mere de la formation
organique du nord s'etend jusqu'au Sub Andin. II faut noter que cette
Los Monos quand elle est dans la fenetre a huile.
roche mere avait ete initialement
consideree
on enregistre
souvent des sur-
comme Carbonifere
inferieur (Fm Retama) et qu'il regne une certaine confusion dans les
Avant pays
noms utilises qui, selon les auteurs, sont bases sur des facies Iitho-
La zone du Chaco a ete assez peu foree, 12 puits sur Ie haut de
logiques ou des Iimites d'etages etablies sur des donnees de paly-
Izozog dans les annees 70 et 5 sur Ie bord est du bassin. Ces derniers
nologie. D'excellentes,
n'ont pas rencontre de reservoirs et ont ete secs bien que les don-
quoique eparses, analyses sur des roches
meres Devonien superieur a Carbonifere
inferieur dans les zones de
Madidi et L1iquimuni permettent d'etre optimiste sur la presence d'un
nees geochimiques
montrent que Ie potentiel petrolier du Devonien
et du Silurien reste Ie meme que plus a I'ouest (fig. 11).

De fa~on generale, dans la zone subandine,
intervalle plus riche que la moyenne du Devonien.
c'est la zone la moins
prospective qui a pour I'instant ete Ie plus foree. Le Sub Andin Nord
et la cuenca Madre de Dios restent a explorer et presentent d'un strict
Centre
Dans la zone du Boomerang
et du Sub Andin central, la base du
Devonien presente un potentiel correct (S2 moyen de I'ordre de 6 mg
point de vue du SPI, un excellent potentiel. Cette etude permet d'stre

optimiste quant a I'avenir petrolier de la Bolivie.
HC/g sur une centaine de metres) et I'ensemble des argiles devoniennes est roche mere avec un potentiel mediocre (fig. 10). La serie
peut stre tres epaisse au sud et s'amincit au nord du fait du biseau
du bassin paleozoIque.
La geometrie du coude des Andes (Boome-
rang) est d'ailleurs determinee

(amincissement
par la presence de ce biseau majeur
de plus de 2000 m des depots paleozoIques).
Le
Silurien possede dans cette zone un potentiel meilleur qu'au nord et

au sud avec des COT allant jusqu'a
5 %. Le potentiel de chaque
A complete study of source-rock
geochemical
data has been carried
out for the Bolivian foothills and foreland (Sub Andean Zone, Chaco
and Madre de Dios) in order to quantify the petroleum
potential of
structure est fonction de sa position par rapport a ce biseau qui limite
the area. Overall available data have been compiled in a database,
I'existence des roches meres et des reservoirs.
and a synthesis of the results is presented here. Besides the classical

VOL. 50, N 6, NOVEMBREDECEMBRE 1995
mid-Devonian
source rocks (Tequeje Fm in the north, Limoncito Fm
in the center and Los Monos Fm in the south), others may be just as
important:
the Tomachi Fm (late Devonian) in the north of the country
and the Copacabana
Fm. (late Carboniferous-early
Permian) in the
northern Sub Andean Zone. Both present an excellent potential with

S2 up to 40 mg HC/g and average values larger than 10 mg HC/g
on few hundred meters. The latest Cretaceous (Flora Fm in the northern Sub Andean Zone) also presents locally a high potential but has
almost no influence, its thickness being quite reduced. Almost all the
source rocks matured during the Neogene due to the subsidence
the Andean foreland and, locally, in the piggyback
thus involved in the current petroleum
in
basins, and are
system. Silurian and Lower
Paleozoic units also contain thick shale beds, but these source rocks
were mature before the Jurassic in most of the country, except in the
Chaco, the Boomerang and the central Sub Andean Zone, where the
Silurian is not nowadays overmature and may play an important role.
The different zones are compared
based on their Source Potential
Index (SPQ which indicates that the richest areas are the northern
Sub Andean Zone and the Madre de Dios basin with SPI greater than
10 11m2. Since these two areas remain almost unexplored
and, at
least for the northern Sub Andean zone, present very large structures, these results allow to be optimistic about the possibilities for
future exploration.
Un estudio completo de los datos geoqufmicos
de las rocas madre
de las cuencas orientales de Bolivia (Subandino,
Chaco, Madre de
Dios) ha sido realizado a fin de definir el potencial petrolifero de la

zona. Los datos se encuentran ahora reunidos en una base de datos
y este articulo presenta la sfntesis de los resultados. Ademas de las
c1asicas rocas madre del Devonico medio (formaciones
el norte, Limoncito
Tequeje en
en el centro y Los Monos en el sur), otras han
sido definidas : el Devonico superior en el norte del pais (Formacion

Tomachi) y la Formacion Copacabana
a Permico inferior en el Subandino
celente potencial.
Subandino
EI Cretacico
de edad Carbonifero superior
norte; las dos presentan
terminal
(Formaciones
un ex-
Flora en el
norte y EI Molino en el Altiplano) tambien tiene un poten-
cial algunas veces alto, pero su espesor es muy reducido. Casi todas
las rocas madre maduraron
mentacion
durante el Neogeno debido a la sedi-
en el antepafs y en las cuencas tipo piggyback,
y por 10
This study is a synthesis of all the pyrolysis data

concerning the Sub Andean Zone, the Chaco and the
Madre de Dios basin that are available at YPFB
(Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos) where
they have been recently compiled in a database. This
database contains actually more than 3000 data which
have been used to build the present maps. The data
come from more than 100 internal regional reports as
well as from the final well reports; a few of them have
been gathered by international oil companies and institutions working on Bolivia. The origin of each sample
and data may be found in the database but will be not
mentioned here for obvious reasons of clarity.
In Bolivia, the main source rocks are the shaly part of
the Palaeozoic, the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
also locally has some potential but its thickness and extension are reduced and none of the current producing
fields is charged by a proved non-middle Palaeozoic
source rock. As the carbon content of the various Palaeozoic series depends on the evolution of the Palaeozoic
basin, a general discussion will be presented on this basin.
The potential of each exploration zone will be discussed,
in comparison to its actual level of exploration after a
description of the data for each formation.
As in many compressional areas, the potential of
each syncline is a function of the timing of trap building
versus the maturation-migration history. This problem
is out of the focus of this paper which concentrates on
the richness of the source rocks. Modelling of thrust
emplacements versus maturation has been already published by Baby et aI., 1995 and Moretti et aI., 1995.
Because this new synthesis is much more complete
concerning the source rock data, Rock Eval analyses
and ages, results may vary from the ones presented on
the two previous papers.
tanto participan en el sistema petrolero actual. EI Silurico y el Paleozoico inferior presentan igualmente
niveles de lutitas potentes, pero
en toda la parte sur el Silurico maduro durante el Paleozoico superior

debido al gran espesor de Devonico.
comparadas
Las diferentes
cuencas son
en funcion de su potencial (SPI), indicando que las dos
zonas mas interesantes
son el Subandino
norte y Madre de Dios,
donde ese parametro sobrepasa 15 11m2. Como estas dos areas han
sido menos exploradas
hasta ahora, los resultados de este estudio
permiten ser optimistas sobre las posibilidades
para el futuro.
The Bolivian exploration has been mainly active on

the central and southern Sub Andean Zone, where the
traps due to the Andean compression are numerous.
350 exploration wells have been drilled in the south
Sub Andean Zone, cumulative production is around
350 Mbbl, mainly on the Camiri and Grigota blocks. In
the Boomerang, 59 exploration wells have been drilled
and the cumulative production is 10 Mbbl and
75.717 MMPC of gas. On the other hand, the Chaco,
present foreland, has been little drilled, 12 wells on the
Izozog area done in the 1960's and 5 on the eastern part
REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRANC;:AIS DU PETROLE

VOL. 50, N 6, NOVEMBRE-DECEMBRE 1995
(Zone of Otuquis, Ravelo, Tucavaca, ...). All the results

have been negative. In the northern Sub Andean Zone,
exploration started on the 60's with two wells Cerro
Boya and Tuichi, later a new phase of drilling began on
the 90-year with Lliquimuni and Tacuaral and is currently active since very good results have been obtained
concerning the source rock potential. Drilling is not
very easy in the area and the two wells (Lliquimuni and
Tacuaral) did not reach the Devonian objective. In the
Madre de Dios basin, exploration has been very active
during tlie~st 4 years. This zone has not been affected
by Andean compression and it is thus more difficult to
define structural traps. A lot of data (shows and seeps)
have proved the presence of hydrocarbon in the basin
but until now, large economic fields have not been identified.
The Sub Andean Zone is a compressive foldedfaulted zone (Raeder, 1988; Sheffels, 1990; Baby et aI.,
1989,1992,1993), which constitutes the eastern border
of the Andes (Fig. 1). It is bounded to the west by the

Cabalgamiento Frontal Principal (CFP), and to the east
by the external thrusts which defined the limits of the
foreland (Llanura: Beni y Chaco). The deformation
started in the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera at the late
Oligocene (27 My) and subsequently migrated toward
the east. The sediments involved in the deformation are
from Ordovician to Cretaceous in age, while the infilling of the foredeep is late Oligocene to Present. The
pre-Andean deformation column shows variations in
facies and thicknesses (Fig. 2) which play an important
role in controlling the geometry of the thrusts (Baby et
aI., 1994a and b). In the central part (from 16 to 17S),
the deformed zone presents a sharp bend which is
characterised by a main transfer zone. From north to
south, the geometry of the Sub Andean Zone shows
variations in the shortening amount. Three zones may
be recognised: the northern Sub Andean Zone (1317S) with a northwest-southeast orientation, a central
part (17 _180) with a west-east orientation and the south
Sub Andean Zone (18-22S) with a north-south orientation. Each zone has some characteristics coming from
Figure I
Simplified tectonic map of Bolivia
showing the location of the Sub Andean region. In the central part, the
Santa Cruz Elbow is characterized by
the Boomerang-Chapare
transfer
zone. In the northern and central part,
the propagation of the deformation
front was limited by the northern
border of the Paleozoic sedimentary
wedge. SC, Santa Cruz; SAZ, Sub
Andean Zone.
...
c=
Eastern Cordillera
:::. Eastern Altlplano
Western Altiplano
REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRAN<;:AIS DU PETROLE

Boomerang
Emborozu
Guandacay
Terciario
Tariquia
Yecua
26
Petaca
144
Cretacico
210
230
Jurasico
Yantata
Ichoa
<'"
Om
~<
C
<J,m
0
0
~;
Triasico
240
z
z:::!
295
oc!
;:i'i-i
::;:;8
305
(pp.
325
C),
Permico
(f)
....:J
....:J
VI
()(f)
~o
(pc
"'-0
m m'
-i
-00'"
-o~
<J,m
Tapecua
Basalto E R.
San Oi 0
Ipaguazu
Vitiacua
Cangapi
:.~
V
Bala
Flora
Eslabon
V
Beu
Booi
Copacabana
San Telmo
Carbonifero
Escaroment
Tai uati
OITO
tacuaml
luoam I
ltacua
"'z
c;'-n
~,2:::
Castellon
360
Iquiri
Los Monos
378
Devonico
Tarabuco
Kirusillas
Figure 2
(a) Simplified stratigraphic column for the Southern Sub Andean and Chaco, The Triassic hiatus is much less pronounced, BER = Entre Rios Basalt, dated as 233 Ma (Soler and Sempere,
1993).
(b) Sedimentary wedge of the Central Sub Andean and Boomerang areas, Two erosive discontinuities (Triassic and latest Eocene) and two hiatus (Cretaceous and Paleocene) are also present
(c) Simplified stratigraphic column for the Northern Sub Andean and Madre de Dios, displaying the two main erosive discontinuities, of Triassic (~205 Ma) and Late Oligocene (27 Ma)
age, The latter marks the beginning of Andean deformation. The former is explained as the result of a Mid-Triassic extensional episode related with the beginning of Gondwana breakup.
Note the hiatus within the Cretaceous (144-68 Ma) and another one within the Paleocene (53-27 Ma).
the various decollement levels activated and from the

thickness of the sediments involved in the thrusts
(Baby et aI., 1994). From a geochemical point of
view, the zones which can be defined are slightly
different since they are defined in the Palaeozoic and
Cretaceous basins, without any influence of the Andean tectonics.
Due to facies lateral changes, a lot of stratigraphic

names have been introduced in the literature. The sedimentary column has been revised through the YPFBORSTOM Convention and published by Sempere
(1990) and Oller (1992). The stratigraphic column,
names and ages of formations, defined by these two
authors will be used in the paper.
Figure 2 shows the three synthetic stratigraphic
columns which may be defined for the three zones:
north, centre and south. For the Madre de Dios basin
the same column as for the north may be used. Two
main discontinuities can be recognised: at the base of
the Jurassic and at the base of the Oligocene. Each one
is erosive and affects, more or less drastically the previous sequence. The first one is assigned to the Trias by
the Entre Rios Basalt (Soler and Sempere, 1993). The
second one is post Maastrichtian and predated the first
foreland deposits (27 My).
North Sub Andean Zone and

Madre de Dios
The Palaeozoic sequence is almost complete from
the Ordovician to the Permian. It is overlian by the
sandstones of the Beu Fm (Mesozoic), its thickness
reaches 800 meters. The thicknesses of the Ordovician,
Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian sequences
decrease to the northeast since the Silurian only exists
to the central and southern part of the North Sub Andean
Zone. At the top ofthe column, the Tertiary deposits are
continental; they indicate the foredeep infilling and
have a thickness of up to 5000 meters.
The main decollement level is Ordovician and the
lowest units are not implicated in the thrusts and form
the basement which only crops out on the Eastern Cordillera. The Silurian deposits extension is still debated
(Fig. 3). It never crops out north of Madidi but the
Upper Silurian (Pridolian) has been recognised in the
Pando-Xl well at 1935 m. In the north Sub Andean
Zone, the Upper Ordovician is sandy and is followed

by the shaly Devonian and lower Carboniferous
sequences (Tequeje, Tomachi and Retama Fms).
The presence of diamictites and slumps and the existence of resedimentation in the Upper Devonian
(Strunian) and Lower Carboniferous are very frequent
in Bolivia and indicate a glacially influenced marine
sedimentation (Diaz and Isaacson, 1994; Eyles et aI.,
1995). They lead to some confusion in the definition of
ages and limits of the sedimentary units. From a general
point of view the units have to be defined by lithological
characters (Diamictites, conglomerates, ...) and age
limits have to be defined by palynogical data, or
radiometric ones. For instance in the Pando-Xl well,
the Tomachi-Retama lithologic change is situated at
1241 m (Isaacson et al., 1995) whereas the DevonianCarboniferous limits is only 1137 m deep; the lower
part of the Retama Group is Famennian. The Upper
Palaeozoic sequence, which may continue to the
Trias, started with the Upper Carboniferous
Yaurichambi Fm. after a Namurian erosion (Middle
Carboniferous). With this unit a transgressive cycle
began. The lithology is mixed from silico-clastic to
carbonates (Copacabana and Bopi Fms). We may
note the presence of limestone, dolomites, eolian
sandstone, shales and marl.
After a strong erosive unconformity, one finds the
eolian sandstones of the Beu Fm, which have a probably Jurassic age and are overlain by the Upper
Cretaceous after another erosional surface dated from
Upper Jurassic to Middle Cretaceous (Sempere, 1990;
Oller and Sempere, 1990). The Cretaceous formations,
Eslab6n and Flora are siliciclastic to carbonated and
where deposited in a continental to shallow marine environment (Flora Fm). Another unconformity, also erosive, limits the Mesozoic sequences from the thick
Neogene continental siliciclastic deposits (Bala, Quendeque, Charqui and Tutumo Fms) that fill the foredeep
and the piggyback basins in the north Sub Andean
Zone. The piggy-back basins could be very deep, up to
6000 m in the Lliquimuni-Bella Vista syncline. At the
beginning of the uplift of the Eastern Cordillera, Upper
Oligocene, the sedimentation rate was slow and the
Bala Fm (27-11 My) is only 200m thick. This rate increased drastically in the Upper Miocene: the Quendeque Fm (11-7 My) is up to 1500m-thick, and the
Charqui Fm is up to 2500 m thick. In the Madre de Dios
basin, the upper part of the sequence is missing and the
Quendeque Fm crops out.
REVUE DE l'INSTITUT FRAN<;:AIS DU PETROlE

Val. 50, N 6, NOVEMBRE-DECEMBRE 1995
Figure 3
Border of the Paleozoic basins. The
changes ofthe distribution due to the
Cenozoic compressional phase have
not been taken into account. The
arrow indicates the probable axis of
the basins
(Montemurro,
1994;
Sempere. 1995). Note the progressive shift of the basin axis to the
northeast
during the Paleozoic.
Small arrows indicate main transport
directions. The only original basin
margin is to the east (Chiquitos),
south of 17. while the rest of the
modem boundaries are the result of
post-Paleozoic erosion. Data from
surface and subsurface.
Central Sub Andean and Boomerang

The stratigraphic column is characterised by a
wedge ofthe Palaeozoic (Fig. 2). This feature has been
continuous from Ordovician to Carboniferous and the
sequences get thinner over the Precambrian-Cambrian
basement of the Brazilian shield. The Palaeozoic is
covered by 500 m of Mesozoic and 1600 m of Late
Tertiary (Oligocene to present). The unconformity between Palaeozoic and Mesozoic is erosive. This sedimentary wedge is the main feature of the area and has
a large effect upon the propagation of the thrusts since
it is a function of the presence of the various decollement levels (Baby et aI., 1993, 1994 and 1995).
The Upper Proterozoic basement has been drilled
and also crops out in the Chapare and eastward in the
Chiquitania. The rocks have been affected by the Cambrian compressive event called Braziliana (Bloomfield
and Litherland, 1979). In the southern part of the Boom-
erang, the Palaeozoic sequence is very similar to the

one known on the north. The deposits are marine and
siliciclastic, the main difference being the thickness of
the Silurian (El Carmen Fm), which is larger. The
Devonian deposits began with the shale of the Boomerang Fm, followed by the sandstones of the Robore
Fm. When this second interval is shaly, it is called Yapacani Fm. This lower Devonian is present over all the
northeastern margin of the Palaeozoic basin and is a
lateral equivalent to the Santa Rosa Fm to the south.
Above it, the Limoncito and Iquiri Fm are thick (up to
1600 m) and more sandy.
Southern Sub Andean Zone and

Chaco Basin
This area presents the most complete Phanerozoic
sequence, from Late Proterozoic to Cenozoic, with the
same erosive unconformities mentioned for the north-

ern and central Sub Andean Zone. However, pre-Jurassic erosion is minor, allowing for the preservation of
Permian and Triassic units. Proterozoic and Lower
Palaeozoic rocks crop out in the southern Eastern Cordillera, and along the northeastern border of the Chaco
basin. The Silurian and Devonian sequences in this area
are very thick (over 4000 m), with a considerable thickness of shales (especially in the Kirusillas, Icla and Los
Monos Fms) alternating with more sandy units (Santa
Rosa, Huamampampa and Iquiri Fms), some of them are
reservoirs. All the siliciclastic sediments were deposited
in a storm and wave-dominated shallow-marine environment, in a retroarc foreland tectonic setting (Montemurro,
1994; Isaacson and Dfaz, 1995). As in the northern and
central Sub Andean Zone, the Late Devonian is characterised by the initiation of sandy and resedimented
deposits with evidence for glaciation, which continue into
the Carboniferous (Macharetf and Mandiyutf Groups).
These deposits clearly display channelized geometries,
both in outcrop and seismic profiles. Late Palaeozoic
units, both sandy (Cangapi Fm) and calcareous (Copacabana and Vitiacua Fms), record successive marine
transgressions and regressions. Some of the Upper
Palaeozoic sandstone units constitute reservoirs in the
southern part of the country. A basalt flow can be found
locally, which dates the end of this sequence as mid- Triassic (Soler and Sempere, 1993). This units (Entre Rios
Basalt) is interpreted as a result of the rifting process originating the Pre-Jurassic erosion that can be observed
throughout the Sub Andean Zone. Mesozoic deposition is
mainly sandy (Tapecua, Castellon and Ichoa Fms), and of
Mid-Triassic to Jurassic age. In the northern part of the
Southern Sub Andean Zone and Chaco (Santa Cruz area),
the latest Cretaceous sandstone and lacustrine limestones
of the Cajones Fm can also be observed. Similarly in the
northern areas, most of the Cenozoic deposition took
place during the Neogene (Late Oligocene to recent), with
important thicknesses (up to 4000 m) of continental
deposits (Petaca, Yecua, Tariqufa, Guandacay and Emborozu Fms). Orogenic compression affected this area
beginning in the mid-Miocene, with the development of
a main sole thrust along the Kirusillas Fm, and other minor
decollements, mostly through the Los Monos Fm, which
facilitated the development of duplexes (Baby et al., 1992;
Moretti et al., 1995).
Paleogeography
Recent results obtained on the paleogeographic and
geodynamic evolution of Bolivian Palaeozoic basins
(Sempere, 1991, 1995; Montemurro, 1994; Isaacson
and Dfaz, 1995) define the general evolution of these

basins and the distribution of sedimentary environments, as well as proximal-distal relationships (Fig. 3).
These aspects are the main factors controlling the content in organic matter and thus condition source rock
potential. Ordovician to Devonian rocks in Bolivia
were deposited in one broad retroarc foreland basin
along the western and central part of the country, which
included the Madre de Dios, Sub Andean Zone, and
Chaco basins. The geometry of this basin was elongated
in a NW-SE direction, limited in the SW by an active
margin with abundant clastic supply, and in the NE by
a relatively stable cratonic margin with less sediment
input. Thus, the thickest development of shales and
mudstones, as well as the presence of anoxic environments which allowed the preservation of the organic
matter, can be found along the foredeep axis of this
broad basin, and towards its NE margin. This axis has
migrated through time as shown in Fig. 3. Deltaic and
interdeltaic coastal environments have been identified
along the NE margin, and are represented by the El
Carmen and Robore Fms.
Beginning in the latest Devonian, and up to the midCarboniferous, uplift along the southwestern border of
the basin and today Eastern Cordillera originated syntectonic erosion and sedimentation, and a large supply
of clastic sediment into the eastern basins. The general
NW-SE position of the basin's axis was kept during this
period, although tectonic piling in the active foreland
increased toward the NW. The more distal and organicrich facies are located in the Boomerang and northward
during Late Devonian. Beginning in the Carboniferous,
a marine transgression took place from the NW, progressing to the south as conditioned by the previous
geometry and areas of maximum subsidence. This
transgression resulted in deposition of Late Carboniferous and Early Permian organic-rich mudstones in the
northern part of the country, which is the axial zone of
the basin extending into Peru.
Besides paleogeographic factors (basin geometry,
proximal-distal relations, etc.), the other aspects influencing the distribution of Paleozoic petroleum
source rocks are the Mesozoic and Cenozoic erosions
and Andean deformation. Mesozoic erosion affected
the upper units, mostly Permian and Carboniferous, as
well as basin margin areas, especially towards the cratonic margin, where toplap surfaces result in a strong
wedging out of the Paleozoic sequence (Madidi and
Boomerang highs). More recently, Oligocene and Miocene erosion eliminated Cretaceous deposits, including

750
50
700
45
650
600
40
550
35
.lC
Cretaceous
<'"
om
~<
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U1m
90
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o~
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-<
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I_~
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..
I .1- I
." I
I~
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-;;400
Gl
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>-
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I /:'" Silurian
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150
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5
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0
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II'IIL.- < I 2
vI
100
<>
0
50
150
200
TOC
Oxygen Index'
(a)
(b)
Figure 9
Data from the northern region (Madre de Dios area and Northern 5ubandean Zone).
(a) 52 versus TOe for each source rock. (b) Hydrogen Index versus Oxygen Index.
I, <>
250
300
the potential source rock, in most of the country. Andean deformation resulted in the development of the
Sub Andean deformation front, with important shortening which drastically affected (telescoped) the
geometry of the Paleozoic basin and the distribution of
the source rocks.
All the data compiled in the YPFB database have

been used to build the maps. As already said, the original reports are not referenced since it would get very
difficult to read. The locality names are listed in the
Appendix with the exact locations of the outcrops and
wells. On the maps they may have been slightly shifted
for the legibility. The data are displayed on maps in
Figs. 4 to 81 and by graphs S2 versus COT and HI versus 01 in Figs. 9 to 12.
The Ordovician crops out in the Eastern Cordillera

but scarcely in the Sub Andean Zone. The few data
concerning the Ordovician source rocks thus come
from the Cordillera and the Altiplano. All the samples
have a residual S2 close to zero but the TOC could be
high. The best values come from Lequepalca (3.13%),
the Rio Pilpintu in the central Sub Andean Zone (2.5%)
and from Yura, a few kilometers southwest of Potosi
(1.7%). In the Sub Andean Zone, due to the thickness
of the Silurian and Devonian deposits, the Ordovician
was overmature before the end of Palaeozoic and had
no influence on the charge of the current traps in the
Neogene foothills. May be in the western part of the
Altiplano which was the border of the Middle Palaeozoic basin, the Ordovician, if it is present, has been less
buried during the Palaeozoic and may participate to the
current petroleum system (Moretti and Aranfbar, 1995).
Figure 8
Distribution of Late Carboniferous
and Permian source rocks (Copacabana Fm). For maturity levels see
Fig. 4'.

15,00
500
.&6
6
61
12,50
450
400k
16
c::.
350
10,00
e
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Om
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~::
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en
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t
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5,00
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-<
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:: 300
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.:
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&
..
250
o Devonian-Sup
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:t:
Devonian
6 Silurian
200
I
""
~f
3,00
I
4,00
.&
.& .& .&
0
0
50
100
200
150
roc
Oxygen Index .
(a)
(b)
Figure 10
Data from the central part (Boomerang and central Subandean Zone), Wells and outcrop.
(a) S2 versus TOe for each source rock. (b) Hydrogen Index versus Oxygen Index.
I I
.&.&
50
1\
~.&.&.&.&
100
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- I .&
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.&
.&
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250
300
.& Devonian
6 Silurian
700
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0
600
10,00
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.:.
8,00
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en m
90
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<-I
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r;:
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..0
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'T'<J
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2ii,~
m
-I
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'"
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:.
:
nV>
2,00
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100
0,50
1,00
1,50
0,00
0,00
2,00
2,50
3,00
TOC
(a)
Figure 11
Data from the eastern part (Otuquis, Tucavaca, Ravelo wells).
(a) S2 versus TOC for each source rock. (b) Hydrogen Index versus Oxygen Index.
50
100
150
200
Oxygen Index .
(b)
250
300
10
600
9r-r-f
:m
500
.ll:
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..
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c
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en
Jurassico
Carboniferous
Upper Devonian
><
.0
~
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o Devonian
""z
6<J
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.:
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&
..
300
0
'0
>-
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m m.
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. Silurian
~;8
(P
CD
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~.
0
~~?~5<~0
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roc
(a)
Figure 12
Data from the south (Southern Sub Andean Zone), Wells and outcrop.
(a) S2 versus TOe for each source rock. (b) Hydrogen Index versus Oxygen Index.
'OV~
...
,.
-~
I
01
0
0
50
100
150
200
Oxygen Index
(b)
250
300
The Silurian source rock is the shaly part of the

Kirusillas Fm, which was deposited on a rather shallow
water siliciclastic platform. The Upper Silurian crops
out, and has been drilled, in the southern Sub Andean
Zone, in the Chaco, central Sub Andean Zone, and a
small area of the northern Sub Andean Zone, as is presented in Figs. 3 and 4. Recently, the Upper Silurian has
been identified in the well Pando-Xl (between 19321937 m). This means that the Silurian basin probably
extended more to the north. Nevertheless, these
deposits are not thicker than a few meters and so do not
play an important role on the petroleum charge of the
northern area. The thickness of the Silurian increases
from north to south and can reach 1500 m. Its petroleum
potential is known from well data in the Boomerang
area and outcrops in the Eastern Cordillera. The available data are presented in Fig. 4. For instance, in the
Pintao well, the average TOC is 2% and the average S2
is 5 mg HC/g for an early mature interval, HI = 300,
Tmax = 438C (EI Carmen Fm). On wells, the highest
values are found in Santa Rosa-X7, where the TOC
reaches 3.1% and the S2 13.7 mg HC/g, also in the El
Carmen Fm. Very often the drilling was stopped on the
upper part of the Silurian and the source rock thickness
is therefore unknown. In outcrops, the best samples also
come from this zone (Chimore, Boomerang, central
Sub Andean Zone). The highest remanent TOC was
found on the Quebrada el Tigre where it reaches 5.2%
for an overmature sample.
The Silurian also crops out along the western border
of the Eastern Cordillera. All the samples coming from
the border of the Lake Titicaca, are overmature, the S2
is nil and the remaining TOC about 0.6%. An initial
value may be estimated around 1.5%. The thickness of
the shales is large - more than 800 m outcrop near
Sorata, in the northern Eastern Cordillera.
The role of this source rock in the petroleum potential of the areas is obviously a function of its maturity
level before the Neogene and the trap emplacement.
The maturity data in the Boomerang show that the
Silurian interval is currently in the oil window and participates to the petroleum system. On the contrary, on
the south Sub Andean Zone, the Devonian and Upper
Paleozoic are much thicker and the Silurian, which has
been reached by only two wells, is overmature
(lfiiguazu-3 and Tatarenda-27 wells). The remanent
potential is low, the TOC does not rise above 0.6%.
To conclude, the hydrocarbon potential of the

Silurian interval is fair in the central part and in the east,
but it decreases in the south which was a more proximal
zone in the Middle Paleozoic foreland. In the Chaco and
Boomerang area, the initial average S 1+S2 was around
8 mg HC/g. In the south, it decreases.
The Devonian deposits participate to the same cycle

as the Upper Silurian. Their thicknesses increase from
the Madre de Dios basin to the south to over 1500 m
which is the thickness from the Boomerang area to the
south. The regional distribution of the Lower and
Middle Devonian can be seen in Figs. 3 and 5. The
basin extended farther northwest into Peru and south
into Argentina and Paraguay. Part of the Devonian has
been eroded, especially to the northeast due to the uplift
of the highs such as the Madidi one. This uplift is supposed to be Triassic, contemporaneous with the extensional event, but may have started before (during
Mississipian) as suggested by Sempere (1995). The
source rocks are the shale from the Tequeje Fm in the
north, the Limoncito and Boomerang Fms in the centre,
and Los Monos, Humampampa, Icla and Santa Rosa in
the south.
The Middle Devonian is the standard source rock of
Bolivia. It is the source rock from all the fields from the
Sub Andean Zone and the Boomerang which are currently the most productive ones. From a geochemical
point of view, this Devonian is a poor source rock, the
initial average S2 is around 2.5 mg HC/g; nevertheless
its thickness is considerable. The number of data being
very large, a map of the measured S2 has been made
(Fig. 5), and the initial TOC has been deduced from the
current values and the maturity level (Fig. 6).
In the north, in the Madre de Dios basin, the Tequeje
Fm is about 300 m thick and the average TOC is 0.8%
(S2 = 2.3 mg HC/g for an early mature source rock
Tmax = 440C). In the northern Sub Andean Zone, there
is no well sample on the Devonian. In the Lliquimuni
area, the best data from outcrops show a TOC up to
1.3% (S2 = 4 mg HC/g, Tmax = 440C). In the western
part of the Eastern Cordillera, the Devonian units crop
out all along the Altiplano border where they are always
overmature. In the northern part of Lake Titicaca, from
Sorata to the Peruvian border, the Colpacucho Fm has
a residual average TOC of 1% and the shale thickness
is large (up to 500 m). In this zone, rather high values

have been also recorded at the Ida-Belen Fm boundaries (average residual TOC of 1.3% for overmature
samples). Southward from La paz, the Devonian section crops out in Sica Sica. The deposits are 3000 m
thick and the residual TOC varies from 0.4 to 1.2%. The
best values are also found in the Colpacucho Fm.
In the Boomerang and central Sub Andean Zone, the
highest values are found in the shales from the Lower
Devonian (Boomerang Fm). This formation includes a
level with the highest organic content, which appears
clearly on the Gamma ray log of the wells. This shaly
level situated at the bottom of the formation has a rather
constant thickness of around 100-150 m. In some parts,
the whole Lower Devonian is shaly, as for instance in
the Puerto Ramos-Xl well (Fig. 13). In this well the
Boomerang Fm is 500 m thick, the last 80 m (from
4600 to 4680 m) are the richest, average TOC 1.5% and
S2 2.5 mg HC/g, the HI is low due to the maturity level.
The oil window is 4500 m deep and the initial S2 that
could be deduced from the current values is 5 mg HC/g
and the initial HI is between 300 and 400. Various wells
show the same richer bottom level in the Boomerang
Fm such as for instance San Juan-X2, Sicuri-Xl and
Sirari-Xl.
Toe
0
0,5
(%)
1,5
2,5
0
500
..
I
'
1000
1500
~-
'ii) 2000
Q)
.s
Q)
2500
.c 3000
c.
3500
Q)
--j
i
4500
-1--=1--1
5000
..
+-:
4000
&
!
Figure 13
Geochemical log from the Puerto Ramos well. The Robore Fm
is rather thin, and overall the Lower Devonian is shaly. Based
on vitrinite reflectance data and T m" values, the oil window is
4500 m deep on this area due to the high current sedimentation
rate. The Plioquaternary deposits are 2650 m thick. The organically richest zone is clearly the base of the Lower Devonian.
Up to the Boomerang Fm, all the shales of the Limoncito Fm have some potential, its thickness reaches
1300 m (San Juan-X2 well). In this well the upper part
of the Limoncito Fm is early mature and show a current
S2 of 3 mg HC/g, it corresponds to an initial S2 + S 1
of around 6 mg HC/g. Looking at the data from the Limoncito Fm, it is not possible to define any zone, on
maps as in depth, more or less organically rich. For
exploration the crucial point is thus the thickness of the
layers, which may change drastically from one point to
another in this wedge area.
In the south Sub Andean Zone and Chaco, all the
shales from the Los Monos, Icla and Huamampampa
Fms have some organic content. By reputation, the Los
Monos Fm is the main source rock, but its potential, like
the one from the Limoncito Fm, is rather poor. None of
the samples is strictly immature and the best measured
TOC is 2% and HI 465. From well data, the residual S2
is between 1 and 3 mg HC/g for the full layer. The Los
Monos Fm thickness is normally 700 m but duplexes
may lead to stack of the layer which is one of the decollement levels. In the Camiri-20l well, for instance,
the Los Monos Fm thickness reaches 1800 m.
The data are much less numerous for the Lower
Devonian because, since now, the main prospects was
shallower, into the Carboniferous or Upper and Middle
Devonian interval. The Icla and Huamampampa Fms
are much more sandy than the Los Monos Fm but the
shaly parts shows the same potential as the Los Monos
Fm.
The highest measured TOC in the Huamampampa
Fm is 2.5% and the S2 7.6 mg HC/g (Honduras-X2
well). On the average, the shaly part is 25% of the formation and the average initial TOC was between 1 and
1.5%. The Icla Fm is very similar but more shaly. The
highest values have been found in the Caigua- X3 well :
TOC 1.3% and S2 2.7 mg HC/g. Otherwise, some well
data are very poor, for instance in the Huaico well from
1900 to 2400 m depth the 30 samples have a TOC of
less than 0.3%, the corresponding S2 being close to O.
The maturity level is not clear but this means, even if
the source rock is now overmature, that the original
TOC was less than 1%. In outcrops, the best values are
from the Rio Huacareta, where the TOC reaches 0.7%
for a mature sample (S2 = 1.1 mg HC/g, HI = 175,
Tmax = 451 0C). This corresponds to a initial TOC
around 1.5%. As for the Huamampampa Fm, an average initial TOC of 1% seems realistic, the shales represent 50% of the beds.
REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRAN(:AIS DU PETROLE

Upper Devonian: Tomachi and Iquiri Fm

The source rock potential of the Upper Devonian
Tomachi Formation has been proved by the wells in the
Madre de Dios basin and in a few outcrops of the north
Sub Andean Zone. In the Pando-Xl, Pando-X2 and
Manuripi wells, the TOC exceeds 3.5% dver more than
200 m, with a Hydrogen Index up to 700. All the shales
in the formation which is 400 m thick, have a good
organic content, more than 2%. The best values are
from the bottom of the formation, with an average S2
of 22 mg HC/g over 250 m. The highest measured
value is 80 mg HClg. In the Pando-Xl well, the Tomachi Fm is not yet mature, with Tmax around 435C and
Ro < 0.5% at 1500 m depth. The average Sl + S2 is
25 mg HC/g on 250 m and 10 mg HC/g over the upper
200 m, it leads to a total SPI, for the Tomachi Fm, of
16.5 t/m2 (80% of the beds are shaly).
In the Lliquimuni area, S2 values up to 23 mg HC/g
have been measured from mature (Ro = 0.96) outcrop
samples (Bella Vista). Nevertheless the data are scarce
due to the thick vegetation and the lack of well samples,
and the thickness of the rich Upper Devonian source
rock in this zone is unknown.
In the central and southern zone, the Upper
Devonian deposits are the Iquiri Fm. None of the
numerous well samples from the Boomerang as from
the Sub Andean Zone shows as high a potential as the
one from the Tomachi Fm. But the shaly beds have
some organic content, very similar to the Middle
Devonian (Los Monos and Limoncito Fms). None of
the well samples is immature, the highest residual HI is
416 and the best residual TOC 3.5% (Guanacos well).
In the San Juan-X2 well, where the complete sequence
may be observed, it is the base of the Iquiri Fm that has
the best potential, 200 m with an average S2 of
2.2 mg HC/g (maximum 3.7 mg HClg) for a level of
maturity corresponding to the beginning of the oil window. Similarly, in the north, it is the base of the Tomachi
Fm which presents the best potential. From outcrops,
highest values have been found: residual TOC over
1.15%, S2 up to 5.3 mg HC/g and HI over 460. The
Iquiri Fm is more proximal than the Tomachi Fm and
only half of the beds are shaly.
Latest Devonian-Early
Retama Group
Carboniferous:
In the northern Sub Andean Zone and the Madre de

Dios basin, the shales from the lower Retama (Latest
Devonian-Early Carboniferous) have some organic

content. This unit is also called Toregua Fm. Its deposition started at the end of the Famennian (360 My) and
continued to the Visean (333 My). To simplify and not
to confuse with the other Devonian source rocks, we
will call this source rock the Carboniferous one, even
if deposition started during the late Devonian. The
Toregua Fm corresponds to a siliciclastic marine platform with alternance of shale and sand. The thickness
of this formation in the Madre de Dios Basin is 300 m
and it increases to the southeast in the northern Sub
Andean Zone: in the Rio Kaka (Lliquimuni area) it is
500 m thick. In the Madre de Dios basin, the maximum
S2 is 3.77 mg HC/g, the TOC 1.76% and the HI214
(immature source rock) and lots of the samples have a
very low potential (Aguilera, 1995b)
We have to note that there is some confusion concerning this Retama Gr and its source rock potential.
Some authors based on a correlation between the Carboniferous from lake Titicaca and the Pando-Xl coredrills, have attributed the organically rich level of the
Madre de Dios basin to the Retama Gr. In addition, in
field reports (Beccar and Toledo, 1990), the limit between the Tomachi and Toregua Fms is based on a lithological change (mica ~ silica). The name of Retama
has been used for different purposes and this explains
why, in previous papers, the Retama Gr is presented as
a rich and thick source rock (Baby et aI., 1994). The
palynological data show without doubt that the organically rich facies in the Pando-Xl well is 400 m deeper
than the CarboniferouslDevonian boundary.
In the data base, a few samples from outcrops on the
Madidi and Lliquimuni area show a very high organic
content (S2 > 20 mg HClg). Following the field reports, they are from the Retama Gr, but this indication
is not based on dating and the reports are older than the
knowledge of the complete sequences from the Pando
wells. We think this age attribution is not very reliable
and that the samples may also come from the Tomachi
Fm. The data have not been included on the maps, but
the high measured S2 values allow to be optimistic
about the existence of a rich source rock from the Upper
Devonian in the north and central part of the northern
Sub Andean Zone.
Upper Carboniferous-Lower
Copacabana Fm
Permian:
The Copacabana Fm was deposited in a shallow

marine carbonate platform. The dominant facies are
carbonates, shales, marls, sandstones and volcanic

tuffs. Their deposits started during the Bashkirian

(320 My) and continued to the Lower Permian
(270 My). The Copacabana Fm is present in the Madre
de Dios basin, in the northern Sub Andean Zone in the
northern Altiplano and, more locally, in the central Sub
Andean Zone (Figs. 3 and 8). Where it has not been
eroded, its thickness reaches 800 m whereas in the
south of Peru it exceeds 1000 m. The facies near lake
Titicaca are rather proximal (carbonates and sands) and
the shale thickness is low. The basin was deeper to the
east and the outcrops from the Lliquimuni area show
more distal facies. Northward, in the Madre de Dios
basin, the shale thickness is very low, no more than a
few meters, and it seems that it corresponds to a proximal facies with deposits from the East. Between the
areas from Madre de Dios and Lliquimuni, the Copacabana Fm was eroded during the Trias due to the uplift
of the Madidi high. Southward, from the Boomerang
area to Argentina, the deposits equivalent to the Copacabana Fm are more proximal and sandy (Cangapi Fm).
Recent Rock Eval pyrolyses have proved the locally
high potential of the shale and marl of this formation.
The measured TOC varies from 1 to 9% and the HI
values reach 700. The formation has been drilled in the
Lliquimuni and Tacuaral wells, the ones from the
Madre de Dios basin and it also crops out. In the
Lliquimuni area, its potential is excellent, with S2
values up to 47 mg HClg. In the Lliquimuni well,
3000 m of the Copacabana Fm has been drilled, the
average TOC is 1.6% and the average S2 is
6.67 mg HClg. The well has been drilled through a vertical flank of an anticline (Fig. 14) and then the true
thickness of the source rock can not be deduced from
these data. Looking the S2 versus depth profiles it
seems that the rich level (S2 > 10 mg HC/g) has been
passed through 3 times at 2000, 3300 and 4000 m. In
the Tacuaral-Xl well, the Copacabana Fm is 700 m
thick. Only the lower part has a high TOC content,
about 250 m have values of S2 always over 5 mg HClg,
the average is 10 mg HClg. The maturation level is the
beginning of the oil window, equivalent to a Ro of 0.7.
This maturation is inherited from the pre-Neogene history and shows almost no evolution in the anticlines
where the wells are located (Baby et aI., 1994). To conclude, the initial potential which can be deduced from
these data is a thickness of 250 m with a TOC of 2.5%
and a HI of 700, which means an excellent source rock
with an initial S 1 + S2 of around 10 mg HC/g in the
Lliquimuni area. It is a type II source rock with a high
Hydrogen Index (Montemurro and Aguilera, 1995).
In the Madre de Dios basin, the Copacabana Fm is

today 200 m thick, the upper part was eroded during the
Trias. The facies is mainly white carbonates with a very
low organic content (TOC < 0.5%) and the shaly part
is less than 10 m. Few values are good, S2 up to
10 mg HC/g in Pando-Xl, and 16 mg HClg in Manuripi-Xl (Aguilera, 1995b), but they correspond to centimetric beds.
Around Lake Titicaca, the Copacabana Fm. also crops
out. The main lithologies are carbonates, marls and sands.
The shale thickness is very low and the measured TOC
never reaches the values known in the north Sub Andean
Zone. A remanent TOC of 1.72% has been found in an
overmature sample from the Cumana peninsula but it
corresponds to a bed of a few centimetres. In Belen, on
the Copacabana peninsula, a carbon bed has been found
with a TOC of 23% (S2 = 1.8 mg HC/g, Tmax = 458C)
but it is an isolated value and the other ones are low. On
the northeastern shore of the lake, TOC over 2.4% has
been measured for a mature sample (S2 = 4 mg HC/g and
Tmax = 443C) but most of the values are very low and the
shale thickness is also reduced.
In the Cordillera, the Copacabana Fm is still preserved in the core of some synclines as in Morochata
(Cochabamba area). The best values measured are
2.7% for the TOC, 3.48 mg HC/g for the S2, 290 for
the HI (T max = 435C). The shaly organically rich bed
is 80 m thick.
Currently, the data do not allow us to precisely define
the geographic limits of the organically rich facies of
the Copacabana Fm. The main uncertainty for exploration in the northern Sub Andean Zone is its extension
north from Lliquimuni. North from the Madidi high, the
Copacabana Fm is almost purely carbonate and does
not have any petroleum potential. But the Madidi high
is a post Permian feature and we can expect a
progressive decrease of the shale thickness from
Lliquimuni-Madidi to Madre de Dios. Following the
paleogeographic maps of Sempere (1995), the centre of
the Permian basin was located in Lliquimuni and
Madidi when Madre de Dios was more proximal, close
to the eastern border of the formal basin. Following this
interpretation we may be optimistic about the Upper
Carboniferous-Lower Permian source rocks potential
in the Madidi area. The results of the first well are expected at the beginning of 1996.
The Cretaceous is the classical source rock of South

America from Venezuela (La Luna) to Argentina, in-
REVUE DE L'INSTlTUT FRAN<;:AIS DU PETROLE

2OO0m
Om
-2000m
-4000
-6OOOm
-6OOOm
-10000m
-12000
-14000m
-l6000m
Upper-Middle Miocene
Oligo-Miocene
Jurassic - Cretaceous
Upper Carb.-Lower Perm.
Carboniferous
Devonian (black: Los Monos + Iquiri Fms)
Silurian
Ordovician - Precambrian
5000m
Om
Om
-5000m
5000m
-10000m
-10000m
-15000m
-15000m
Om
5000m
-10000m
Figure 14
Structural sections through the Andean Fothills showing the main decollement levels and the north - south evolution.

cluding Colombia and the Ecuadorian Sub Andean

zone. It is a marine source rock deposited in a back
arc basin. This huge back arc extended from the
Maracaibo zone to Peru and a second one was present in Chile (Macellari, 1988). On Bolivia these
facies are unknown since the two basins were
poorly connected, Bolivia was a higher zone where
the marine influences were sporadic (Sempere,
1994). Nevertheless, in the northern part of the Sub
Andean Zone, the Upper Cretaceous Flora Formation presents a good potential (TOC = 2.45%,
S2 = 18 mg HClg, HI=747, Tmax = 4410C). In outcrops, the marls and shales are 50 m thick, the
main lithology is carbonates and silstones and the
environement was very shallow marine. The Flora
Fm has been compared to the El Molino Fm. which
has the same Maastrichtian age (Vernet and Botello,
1975). The El Molino Fm crops out in the Altiplano
and the western part of the Eastern Cordillera. It has
a high petroleum potential (S2 over 20 mg HC/g) in
the Lake Poopo area, but, as for the Flora Fm, the
thickness of the source rock is low (Moretti and
Aranfbar, 1995). The El Molino Fm shows an alternance of marine and continental influences (Gayet
et al., 1993), the Flora Fm is marine but is laterally
equivalent to the continental sandstones of the Cajones Fm (Beccar and Toledo, 1990). The outcrops
of the Flora Fm are restricted to the north Sub Andean Zone near the Peruvian boundaries. Northward, in the Madre de Dios Basin, it has been eroded
before the Oligocene Bala Fm deposits. In the
Lliquimuni area, the Cretaceous units present on the
Tacuaral well do not contain any shale or marl. In
the South Sub Andean Zone, the Upper Cretaceous
is sandy and continental (Cajones Fm), without any
organic content. It also does not have good reservoir
qualities as its permeability is low.
To conclude, the organically rich Flora Fm is very local
and may only playa role in the petroleum charge only in
the Madidi area where it is also a seal on top of the Beu
sandstones, which have good reservoir qualities.
Since all the source rocks are older that the Neogene
Andean orogen, the key factors are the organic content
of the source rocks and the timing of migration versus
the date of thrust emplacement. Any early maturation
and migration would condemn more recent structures

as potential prospects.
Coupled studies between the structural evolution of
the Sub Andean Zone and the maturation history have
been previously made by our group and published by
Baby et al., 1995 and Moretti et al., 1995. The I-D
program Genex has been used to study the maturity
history. Calibration has been done on the well data to
better define the maturity level before the Neogene orogen. Details about the results commented here may be
found on the two mentioned papers. Conclusions may
be hereafter slightly different since the number of available data were much less numerous when these two
studies were carried out (1992 and 1993). As it has
already been commented, the age of the Upper
Devonian organically rich facies was erroneous in the
paper and from a general point of view, the role of the
Silurian source rocks has been underevaluated.
Generally, the heat flow is low in the foreland due to

the high sedimentation rate since the Upper Miocene,
values are between 40 and 50 mW1m2. In the
Itaguazurenda well for instance, the Devonian is in the
entrance to the oil window at 5000 m (Tmax = 440C)
and in the Puerto Ramos well the oil window is 4500 m
deep. This deepening of the oil window in the foreland
is a very standart feature (Apennines, Vienna basin, ...).
In the Sub Andean Zone, the data are more variable due
to the erosion on the anticlines but the same blanketing
effect is also present in the piggyback basins where the
oil window is deeper and the recent sedimentation rate
high.
For each basin, the SPI has been calculated (Demaison and Huizinga, 1989), see the summary in Table 1.
Basin
Sil.
Dev.
Dev.
Sup.
Madre de Dios .
Madidi .......
North SAZ ....
Boomerang* ...
South SAZ ....
Chaco ........
0
0
0
0-4
3
3-5
4-5
0-6
5
4.5
16
5-10
3-6
0-3
1.5
1.5
1-2
Carbo Perm.
I
1
0.5
0
0
0
0
0-2
7.5
0
0
0
Cret.
Total
0
I
0
0
0
0
20
10-17
15.5-18
0-13
6-5
7-8
* For the Boomerang and Central Sub Andean Zone, the values are function
of the Trias and Neogene erosions.
The italic values indicate that the data are not yet precise enough to conclude.

The Lower Paleozoic is not present and the Upper

Silurian is only few meters thick. The Lower and
Middle Devonian (Tequeje Fm) has a low potential
(average S 1 + S2 3 mg HC/g) and a reduced thickness
(300 m in the Pando-Xl well). As the basin becomes
deeper to the south, a 500 m thick series is more representative of the area of drainage. This led to a SPI of
3 tlm2 (80% of the layer are shales). The Upper
Devonian (Tomachi Fm.) has an excellent potential
with an average S 1 + S2 of over 25 mg HC/g in the first
250 m and above 200 m with an average S 1 + S2 of
10 mg HC/g, the total resulting SPI is then 16.5 tlm2.
The Carboniferous (Retama Gp) is thin and has a low
potential. The Permian is also thin with only a few meters of source rocks. Adding up the entire influences,
thefinal SPI of the basin reaches 20 tlm2. The reservoirs
are the sandstones from the Carboniferous and the ones
from the Tomachi Fm. In the wells, the source rocks are
immature but the basin get deeper to the south and to
the west and the hydrocarbon are migrating for the
deepest and mature zones (Baby et aI., 1995).
Until now, there has been no production from the
basin. The first Pando-Xl well drilled by Oxy and M obit
in 1990 was positive but the delineation has been disappointing and the proved reserves are around
0.5 Mbbl. Without doubt, the basin has a huge potential,
but the structures are difficult to define since the Andean compression has not affected the area. In addition
the area is very remote and the vegetation dense and
therefore the seismic surveys needed to define stratigraphic traps are expensive.
The Madidi area is the southern part of the Madre de

Dios basin but it is affected by the Neogene compression.
The only well, Tuichi, was drilled in 1976 but does
not reach the reservoirs. The next one will be drilled at
end of 1995 by a group of companies including Total
which is the operator. Due to this lack of wells, the data
on the source rocks are scarce. The Silurian interval is
not present, it may have been eroded before the
Devonian or, was never deposited. An outcrop shows
the Devonian overlaying an Ordovician paleo soil
(Sempere, personal communication). The Lower and
Middle Devonian shales should have the same potential
as in the other zones, i.e. an average S 1 + S2 of
3 mg HC/g, the serie is 700 m thick and the shales rep-
resent 75% of it. The area being situated between Madre

de Dios where the Upper Devonian has an excellent
potential and Lliquimuni where the Permian has also
an excellent potential, the question is to know the extension of each one. The Madidi high is a recent features
so the Upper Devonian may be expected with a similar,
and organically rich, facies. As already mentioned some
samples with very high organic content suggest an extension to this zone of a rich Upper-Devonian source
rock, a SPI minimum of 5 tlm2 may be expected which
can be ov~r 10 tlm2. The Copacabana Fm. when it crops
out is more carbonate than in Lliquimuni and less shaly.
In addition the erosion of the Madidi high affected at
until the Upper Devonian and thus the Copacabana Fm.
is missing in the northern part of the zone. The
Cretaceous (Flora Fm) is present locally, with a thickness of 50 m of shale and an initial S 1 + S2 of
10 mg HC/g; it led to a contribution to the final SPI of
1.25 tlm2.
North Sub Andean
Area
Zone: L1iquimuni
The Middle Palaeozoic has not yet been drilled in the

area, the conclusions concerning its petroleum potential
are based only on outcrop data and are still imprecise.
The Lower and Middle Devonian have facies similar to
the one present on the Boomerang and therefore an
average initial S 1 + S2 value of 3 mg HC/g is expected.
The thickness is around 800 m with 75% of shale, the
corresponding SPI is then 4.5 tlm2 As further north, the
main uncertainties is the Upper Devonian potential
which may be high as in the north or already rather poor
as the Iquiri Fm in the Boomerang area. Only one isolated sample from the area has indicated a high organic
content for the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous,
and we consider that the expected SPI is definitively
lower than in the north and should be realisticaly between 3 and 6 tlm2. The Copacabana Fm has a good
potential, 250 m with an average S 1 + S2 of
12 mg HC/g. The SPI of the area is then at least 15 and
may be over 18 tlm2.
The timing is good, the anticlines are immature to
early mature, which means that the maturation is due to
the Tertiary deposits in the piggy-back basin. The
geometry of the area is characterised by very deep
piggy-back basins, over 6000 m deep (Baby et aI.,
1994b) and then all the level of maturation are present
in the drainage area from early to overmature. Unfortunately, the two wells drilled on the area Lliquimuni,

Figure 4
Distribution of the Silurian source rocks: gray areas indicate proven presence of the Silurian
source rock. The values are the best TOe and the best S2 from wells and outcrops. The font
show the maturity level: normal for inmature source rock. italics for mature ones, and bold for
overmature one. In this latter case, the S2 has not been mentioned, since it is always close to
zero, and the TOe is a remanent value. As a quick estimation, the original value was around 3
times higher.
10
10
6outcroop
12
o Well
Current 52 (mg HCIg)
12
-<3
3<-<5
- >5
14
14
BRASIL
16
Figure 5
Distribution of the Lower and Middle Devonian source rocks, with current S2 values. The circles
are well data and the triangles are outcrop data.
to the erosion of the Upper Devonian, Carboniferous

and Cretaceous sequences. All 12 wells drilled in the
Izozog area resulted dry. To the north Tinta produces,
this well is located on the foredeep but not close to the
Alto and in a zone where the Paleocene erosion has
been weak.
The few wells located in the eastern part of the
country have also been dry. Nevertheless, Otuquis,
Ravelo and Tucavaca have shown that the Paleozoic
source rocks are similar, or even richer, in this part of
the basin. Shows has been recorded but without
economic interest due to the lack of reservoir.
To conclude the potential of the eastern part and of
the Alto Izozog is low, due to the lack of reservoirs,
while the SPI remains the same as in the Boomerang
area.
Southward, the source rocks are rather homogeneous, all the Silurian and Devonian shales have
some hydrocarbon potential, which is low but constant
and its weakness is compensated by large thicknesses.
As has been already noticed, the richest part is the Los
Monos Fm which is 700 m thick with a shale ratio of
about 50%. The average TOC is about 1.2% and the
average S 1 + S2 is 5 mg HC/g, the resulting SPI is
5 tlm2. The Iquiri Fm has more 0 less the same potential,
but the shale thickness is only about 150 m, the resulting SPI is 1.5 tlm2. The shales in the Icla and Huamampampa Fms have a lower potential, initial S 1 + S2
around 4 mg HC/g and the shales thickness is around
200 m. The resulting SPI would be 2 tlm2. Nevertheless, with the known thickness of the Devonian (more
than 2500 m) and Carboniferous (more than 1000 m),
the Lower Devonian and the Silurian units, were mature
during the Carboniferous (Moretti et aI., 1995). As a
result, these source rocks have almost no influence on
the Neogene hydrocarbon potential of the area. The
upper units from Carboniferous and the Cretaceous
ages are sandy without any organic content.
From a timing point of view, due to the very low
thickness variations in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic
sequences almost all the zone has the same maturation
history. The Silurian got mature during the Carboniferous as well as the Lower Devonian. The Transformation
Ratio of the Humampampa Fm in the Trias was around
80% and the Los Monos Fm TR was around 30%, the
Iquiri Fm remained almost immature. These maturity
levels are the ones actually found in most of the anti-
clines. In the synclines the burial increase during the

Neogene and the Upper Devonian reaches the peak oil
generation and even the gas window from the late Miocene to nowaday during the Tariqufa, Guandacay y
Emborozu Fms deposition. Almost all the structures
present se same potential in terms of charges except the
few recent out of sequence structures which could be
quaternary and not contemporaneous with any burial
increase (for the details of this maturation history see
Moretti et al., 1995).
The resulting SPI is 6.5 tlm2 without adding the
Silurian and Lower Devonian supplies which were
overmature before trap formation. This value is already
rather high by international standards, Demaison and
Huizinga (1991) defined the lowest limit as 2 and the
limit between middle and good to 7 tlm2. Nevertheless
we have to note that the SPI is a local parameter which
does not integrate the size of the drainage area. Some
areas with very low SPI produce hydrocarbon due to a
huge drainage area such as for instance the Austral
Cuenca in the south of Argentina. On the contrary, in
the Sub Andean Zone, the drainage area of each structure is very small due to the high compression ratio and
the numerous faults. In conclusion, the probability of
finding a large oil field in the South Sub Andean Zone
depends on the sizes of both trap and drainage area but
not on local variations of the organic content of the
source rocks.
In the southern Sub Andean Zone, the oil seeps and
fields are numerous but the proved reserves are small.
It could be explained by the presence of these very thick
but organically poor Paleozoic source rocks. As in the
Boomerang area, the level of maturity found in the hydrocarbons (field sample) is higher than the one enregistred for the source rock and may be due to the low
potential of the source rock. Due to the lack of charge
the first heavy generated HC are not expelled, and only
the more mature one are light enough to migrate, the
mimimun reflectance of vitrinite recorded on the fields
is 1 when all the level from 0.7 to overmature are found
on the source rock samples. The current project to look
for deeper reservoirs in the Humampampa sandstones
could be interesting. Very often, the Los Monos shale
is the decollement level, resulting in complex and rather
small traps. Drilling the deeper level may lead to the
definition of larger structures where gas reserves may
be as big as in the northern part of Argentina.
The Santa Cruz area is slightly different since the
Tertiary thickness is much more reduced. The level of
maturity found on the wells (La Cop a, Mataral) as well

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Pucci, J.C. (1991), "Resumen de las cuencas sedimentarias del Paraguay", BIP, Dec. 1991.
Espitalie J., G. Deroo and F. Marquis (1985), "La pyrolyse RockEval et ses applications". Rev. l'Inst. Franr;. du Petrole, Vol. 40,
p. 563-579 and 755-784.
Eyles N., G. Gonzalez Bonorino, A. Franca, C. Eyles and O. Lopez
Paulsen (1995), "Hydrocarbon-Bearing
Late Paleozoic Glaciated
Basins of southern and Central South America". In Petroleum
Basins of South America, AJ. Tankard, R. Suarez and H. Welsink
Eds, AAPG memoir 62, p. 165-183.
Forbes, P., P. Ungerer, A. Kuffus, F. Riis, and S. Enggen (1991),
"Compositional modelling of petroleum generation and expulsion".
AAPG Bulletin, Vol. 75, p. 873-893.
Gayet M., L. Marshall and T. Sempere (1991), "The Mesozoic and
Paleocene vertebrates of Bolivia and their stratigraphic context: a
review". In Fosiles y Facies de Bolivia (I). Revista Tecnica de
YPFB. Santa Cruz, Vol. 12, No.4, p. 393-433.
Gubbels, T. L., B. L. Isacks, and E. Farrar (1993), "High-level surfaces, plateau uplift, and foreland development, Bolivian central
Andes". Geology, v. 21, Vol. 21, p. 695-698.
Isaacson, P.E. and E. Diaz (1995). "Evidence for a Middle Paleozoic
foreland bain and significant paleolatitudinal shift, Central Andes".
In Petroleum Basins of South America, A.J. Tankard, R. Suarez and
H. WelsinkEds,AAPGMemoir62,p.
231-249.
nO08-2727, CTP-YPFB,
Roeder, D. (1988), "Andean-age structure of Eastern Cordillera

(Province of La Paz, Bolivia)". Tectonics, Vol. 5, p. 23-39.
Sempere, T. (1990), "Cuadros estratigraficos de Bolivia: propuestas nuevas". Revista Tecnica de YPFB (Santa Cruz), Vol. 11,
p.215-227.
Sempere, T. (1994), "Kimmeridgian? to Paleocene tectonic Evolution of Bolivia". In Cretaceous Tectonics of the Andes, J.A. Salfity
Ed. 168-212.
Sempere, T. (1995), "Phanerozoic evolution of Bolivia and adjacent
regions". In Petroleum Bains of South America, A.I. Tankard, R.
Suarez and H. Welsink Eds, AAPG Memoir 62,207-230.
Sempere, T., G. Herail, J. Oller and M.G. Bonhomme (1990), "Late
Oligocene-Early Miocene major tectonic crisis and related basins
in Bolivia". Geology, Vol. 18, p. 946-949.
Sheffels, B. (1990), "Lower bound on the amount of crustal shortening in the central Bolivian Andes". Geology, Vol. 18, p. 812-815.
Soler, P. and T. Sempere (1993), "Stratigraphie, geochimie et signification pa1eotectonique des roches voicaniques basiques mesozoi'ques des Andes Boliviennes". Comptes Rendus de I'Academie
des Sciences de Paris, 316, Serie II, p. 777-784.
Vernet, R. and Botello (1975), "Area de Madidi. Sintesis geol6gica". Internal report TOTAL.
REYUE DE L'INSTITUT FRAN<;:AIS DU PETROLE

YOLo 50, N 6, NOYEMBRE-DECEMBRE 1995
as in outcrops may be explained by the Paleozoic thickness. The maturity is inherited before the Triassic erosion. The only place where the Los Monos Fm is mature
is in the Espejos well where the Devonian is situated in'
the footwalls of a thrust (Fig. 14). In outcrops on the
upper part of the thrust, the Los Monos Fm has a lower
maturity level which indicate that the Miocene thickness did not exceed 400 m (Moretti et aI., 1995). It
seems that this zone remained a high during the Tertiary. Its present maturity level is inherited from the
Paleozoic and does not allow charge of the Neogene
traps. In addition due to the Plioquaternary erosion,
most of the reservoirs now crop out. The potentialities
of the zone are thus low.
The geochemical analyses document four different

source rocks present in the Paleozoic sedimentary
sequence of Bolivia: Copacabana Fm (Late Carboniferous-Early
Permian), Tomachi Fm (Late
Devonian),
Tequeje / Limoncito / Boomerang / Los
Monos / Icla-Huamampampa Fms (Early and Middle
Devonian) and the Silurian sequence. Furthermore, the
Late Cretaceous Flora Fm. locally presents a good
potential.
In the Madre de Dios basin, the main source rock is
the Tomachi Fm. It is a very rich source rock, to which
Lower and Middle Paleozoic potential must be added.
This basin is highly promising with regard to source
rocks, but contains very few structures.
In the northern part of the northern Sub Andean
Zone, the Tomachi Formation can be expected to
have the same potential as in the Madre de Dios basin,
and the Copacabana Formation to also have good
potential as in the south. This area therefore presents
good perspectives for exploration. In the central part
of the northern Sub Andean Zone (Lliquimuni area),
the Copacabana Formation presents good source
rock, and the Tomachi Formation could also still have
a high potential as in the north. Structural traps
developed during the Neogene with Palaeocene reservoirs. Overall, the Northern Sub Andean Zone is
the most prospective area in Bolivia, and because of
the little exploration done so far, one can be optimistic about the future.
In the Boomerang area, the Carboniferous and Permian were eroded, or have no potential, and the Upper
Devonian (Iquiri Fm) has a medium to low potential.
Middle Devonian units (Limoncito and Boomerang
Formations) and Silurian units (El Carmen Formation)

are the main source rocks. They all have a low potential,
and thus depend on thickness for their economic interest. Their stratigraphic position and maturation degree
are appropriate to participate in the modem petroleum
system. The timing of each structure should be studied
in detail.
In the southern Sub Andean Zone, all Silurian and
Devonian shales constitute source rocks (Kirusillas,
Tarabuco, Icla-Huamampampa, Los Monos and Iquiri
Fms). Maturation history is almost always positive for
Andean structures. The only problem is thus finding
large closed structures and a sufficiently large drainage
area. The study of probable reserves in each structure
would need a study of migration and quality of seal. In
complex areas like the Sub Andean Zone, faults play an
important role in hydrocarbon migration, and the existence of surface shows along many of them clearly indicates this role. However, there has been no
quantification of the relative importance of each mode
of transport: migration through faults or migration
through porous beds. Furthermore, it is not known
whether all faults constitute migration routes, or
whether their permabilities can be clearly defined.
Another migration-related problem, especially with
Lower Devonian reservoirs (Santa Rosa and Huamampampa Fms), is migration to lower units. This phenomenon exists in all areas with overpressure, particularly
when there is overpressure in the source rock, and hydrocarbons are expelled downwards. In the Sub Andean
Zone, overpressures have been mentioned for the Los
Monos Formation (Perez, 1994) and it would be of interest to confirm possibilities of filling traps in the
Huamampampa
Formation
with
hydrocarbon
generated from the Los Monos Formation.
This study has been carried out through the YP FBORSTOM Convention between July 1994 and July 1995. All
the data come from the YPFB data base. We thank the CTP
of YPFB for part of the Rock Eval analysis, A. Dalenz and
N. Liachenko for their help, and T. Sempere for hepfull discussions and the final review. A paper in Spanish describing
this geochimical data base has been published in the YPFB
Revista Tecnica edited by R. Suarez (Moretti et al., 1995).
Aguilera, E. (1995a), "Analisis geoquimico de secciones del NE del

Lago Titicaca", YPFB-Informe tecnico CTP-LGQ-05-1045-95.

Annexe 1
LOCATIONS (Lat., long.)
Outcrops:
Angostura
Anticline Boya
Anticline Thichi
Corregidores
Lago Poopo
Morachata
Rio Huacareta
Sorata
6335
6645
6735
67
67
6030
6410
6840
Honduras
lfiiguazu
LaCopa
Manuripi
Matara
Pando
Pando-X2
Puerto Ramos
Parapeti
Pilcomayo
Secure
Sirari
San Julin
Sta Rosa
Tacuaral
Tatarenda
18
1545
1445
2045
1845
1717
2050
1542
Wells:
Camiri
E1 Pintoa
Guanaco
CAM201
EPT-001
GNC-001
204
1657
1850
6333
6331
6306

VOl. 50, N 6, NOVEMBRE-DECEMBRE 1995
777
HND-002
lNG-003
LCP-001
MNP-OOI
MTR-001
PND-OOI
PND-002
PRM-001
PRP-001
PYO-OOI
SCR-OOI
SIR-OOI
SJN-002
WSRW-007
TCR-001
TTR-027
2126
2151
1810
1136
1805
1138
1136
1710
1921
2114
1705
1704
1711
1657
1537
1908
6411
6359
6408
6208
6409
6756
6744
6426
6241
6332
6420
6409
6353
6350
6703
6331

1995 Bolivian Source Rock

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1995 Bolivian Source Rock

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THE BOLIVIAN SOURCE ROCKS

SUB ANDEAN ZONE

I. MORETTl1 and E. DiAl MARTiNEZ

Une base de donnees geochimiques

a ete mise en place entre 1994

de regrouper les connaissances

travail a ete fait dans Ie cadre de la convention

G. MONTEMURRO, E. AGUILERA and M. PEREZ

sur les roches meres de Bolivie. Ce

lie depuis 1987 YPFB et I'ORSTOM

Scientifique pour Ie Oeveloppement

Ie bassin de Madre de Dios, la zone

toute la zone potentiellement

petroliere du pays, hors Altiplano, est ici presentee. La base contient

les analyses d'un peu plus de 3000 echantillons.

Les roches meres sont PaleozoIques

actuel du Silurien au Permien. Le bassin,

a la zone sud-ouest, s'est ensuite etendu vers

Ie nord. La bordure ouest n'est pas connue, elle devait se situer au

a I'est du pays et sur laquelle se

breuses evidences de diamectites

est marine, il s'agit d'une

ont ete notees a partir de la fin du Devonien. Le Trias marque la fin

par une erosion, sans doute due a

une phase de rifting avortee. La sedimentation

marquee. Au nord, dans la zone de Madidi, les

depots du Cretace terminal

montrent des intercala-

de la cordillere orientale demarre a la fin de l'Oligo-

cene (27 Ma, Sempere

et al., 1990) et Ie front de compression

vers I'est. De l'Oligocene

moyen, la zone subandine actuelle se situe en position d'avant-pays

ainsi que dans les bassins intramontagneux

du Miocene a l'Actuel. Bien que continentaux

La roche mere classique de la Bolivie est Ie Devonien

mation Tequeje au nord, Limoncito au centre et Los Monos au sud

REVUE DE L'INSTITUT FRANCAIS DU PETROLE

parfois 80 mg HC/g et une moyenne de 22 mg HC/g est prouvee sur

Dans Ie Sub Andin Sud, la serie paleozoIque est complete (fig. 2) et

250 m. La region n'est pas affectee par la compression

est difficile de definir des structures

dans cette zone amazonienne

est tres dense et done les lignes sismiques

Ie SPI (Source Potential Index) de la zone de-

pas au systeme pe-

trolier actuel. L'ensemble des argiles du Devonien, formations Santa

passant les 20 11m2, I'exploration continue bien qu~ les decouvertes

Rosa, Icla, Humampampa,

certitiees ne soient pas encore economiquement

de roche mere similaires mais Ie pourcentage sable/argile varie selon

Los Monos et Iquiri possede des qualites

de 800 m dont la moiM sont des argiles, qui est quantitativement

Dans Ie Sub Andin Nord, la richesse du Devonien superieur n'est pas

roche mere la plus importante. Comme ce niveau est aussi un niveau

iI arrive que I'epaisseur de la Fm. Los Monos depas-

(S1+S2 initial de 3 mg HC/g) sur environ 800 m. Dans Ie centre de

Camiri (fig. 14). Tous les echantillons

atteint leurs objectifs du fait de la complexite des structures mais ont

prouve Ie potentiel de la formation

defini. Un S2 moyen de 5 mg HC/g pour les argiles devoniennes

provenant de cette zone sont

et Ie potentiel initial n'est done pas tres bien

para1t realiste, ce qui conduit a un SPI de 511m2