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21-500: The first oil explorations in the onshore Sureste Basin started in 1907. Offshore explorations started in the mid 20th century. Improvement of drilling techniques in the 1970s allowed the discovering of giant oil fields, such as Cantarell . Since 2015, oil companies have started exploration in deep waters. In 2017, the Zama oil field was discovered. Sureste Basin covers an area of 188,000 km (73,000 sq mi), that extends from

42-421: A given date forward, from known reservoirs, and under existing economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations—prior to the time at which contracts providing the right to operate expire, unless evidence indicates that renewal is reasonably certain, regardless of whether deterministic or probabilistic methods are used for the estimation. The project to extract the hydrocarbons must have commenced or

63-440: Is a high risk investment and risk assessment is paramount for successful project portfolio management . Exploration risk is a difficult concept and is usually defined by assigning confidence to the presence of the imperative geological factors, as discussed above. This confidence is based on data and/or models and is usually mapped on Common Risk Segment Maps (CRS Maps). High confidence in the presence of imperative geological factors

84-404: Is a potential trap which geologists believe may contain hydrocarbons. A significant amount of geological, structural and seismic investigation must first be completed to redefine the potential hydrocarbon drill location from a lead to a prospect. Four geological factors have to be present for a prospect to work and if any of them fail neither oil nor gas will be present. Hydrocarbon exploration

105-503: Is not a legal requirement. In Russia, companies report their reserves to the State Commission on Mineral Reserves (GKZ). Depth conversion Depth conversion is an important step of the seismic reflection method, which converts the acoustic wave travel time to actual depth, based on the acoustic velocity of subsurface medium (sediments, rocks, water). Depth conversion integrates several sources of information about

126-593: Is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons , particularly petroleum and natural gas , in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology . Visible surface features such as oil seeps , natural gas seeps , pockmarks (underwater craters caused by escaping gas) provide basic evidence of hydrocarbon generation (be it shallow or deep in the Earth). However, most exploration depends on highly sophisticated technology to detect and determine

147-477: Is usually coloured green and low confidence coloured red. Therefore, these maps are also called Traffic Light Maps, while the full procedure is often referred to as Play Fairway Analysis (PFA). The aim of such procedures is to force the geologist to objectively assess all different geological factors. Furthermore, it results in simple maps that can be understood by non-geologists and managers to base exploration decisions on. Petroleum resources are typically owned by

168-598: The Chiapas fold belt in the onshore southern limit, to the base of the Campeche Slope in the deep-waters region. It includes prolific oil sub-basins such as Salina, Sonda de Campeche, and Campeche-Tabasco. Deposits range from the late Triassic to Holocene ages. It's described as a highly structural salt basin. The basin has been previously named Campeche Basin (Cuenca de Campeche), Isthmian Salt Basin (Cuenca de Salina del Istmo) and Cuenca Salina (Salt Basin). Also,

189-483: The deep waters area of the basin, there had been made only 12 exploration wildcats. In 2017, proven reserves of the Sureste Basin were over 50 billion barrels of oil. First oil discoveries were made in onshore Tabasco by wildcatters following oil seepage around the flanks of onshore surface piercing. Due to the complex salt-core geology of the region, these first efforts were cautious. The Filisola oil field

210-587: The discovering of giant oil fields in the 1970s, such as Cactus, Samaria, Cunducuan, Iride, and Cantarell . Since 2014, oil companies have explored the deep-water extension with 3D seismic technology. In 2017, Zama oil field was discovered. In 2020, Italian-based oil company Eni announced its plans to invest $ 130 million for drilling oil and gas explorations wells in the Sureste Basin. 19°05′24″N 92°18′50″W  /  19.090°N 92.314°W  / 19.090; -92.314 Oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration )

231-400: The extent of these deposits using exploration geophysics . Areas thought to contain hydrocarbons are initially subjected to a gravity survey , magnetic survey , passive seismic or regional seismic reflection surveys to detect large-scale features of the sub-surface geology. Features of interest (known as leads ) are subjected to more detailed seismic surveys which work on the principle of

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252-570: The government of the host country. In the United States, most onshore (land) oil and gas rights (OGM) are owned by private individuals, in which case oil companies must negotiate terms for a lease of these rights with the individual who owns the OGM. Sometimes this is not the same person who owns the land surface. In most nations the government issues licences to explore, develop and produce its oil and gas resources, which are typically administered by

273-562: The main asset of an oil company. Booking is the process by which they are added to the balance sheet. In the United States, booking is done according to a set of rules developed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). The reserves of any company listed on the New York Stock Exchange have to be stated to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . Reported reserves may be audited by outside geologists, although this

294-488: The northern part of the basin has been named separately as Yucatán Salt Basin, despite there are not geological separation. The Mexican National Commission of Hydrocarbons (Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos, CNH) and the Mexican state-owned oil company PEMEX adopted the name Sureste Basin. In the onshore and shallow-water area of the Sureste Basin, there had been made around 140 oil discoveries until 2017. However, in

315-491: The oil ministry. There are several different types of licence. Oil companies often operate in joint ventures to spread the risk; one of the companies in the partnership is designated the operator who actually supervises the work. Resources are hydrocarbons which may or may not be produced in the future. A resource number may be assigned to an undrilled prospect or an unappraised discovery. Appraisal by drilling additional delineation wells or acquiring extra seismic data will confirm

336-531: The operator must be reasonably certain that it will commence the project within a reasonable time. The term 1P is frequently used to denote proved reserves; 2P is the sum of proved and probable reserves; and 3P the sum of proved, probable, and possible reserves. The best estimate of recovery from committed projects is generally considered to be the 2P sum of proved and probable reserves. Note that these volumes only refer to currently justified projects or those projects already in development. Oil and gas reserves are

357-510: The risk can be reduced by using electromagnetic methods Oil exploration is an expensive, high-risk operation. Offshore and remote area exploration is generally only undertaken by very large corporations or national governments. Typical shallow shelf oil wells (e.g. North Sea ) cost US$ 10 – 30 million, while deep water wells can cost up to US$ 100 million plus. Hundreds of smaller companies search for onshore hydrocarbon deposits worldwide, with some wells costing as little as US$ 100,000. A prospect

378-891: The size of the field and lead to project sanction. At this point the relevant government body gives the oil company a production licence which enables the field to be developed. This is also the point at which oil reserves and gas reserves can be formally booked. Oil and gas reserves are defined as volumes that will be commercially recovered in the future. Reserves are separated into three categories: proved, probable, and possible. To be included in any reserves category, all commercial aspects must have been addressed, which includes government consent. Technical issues alone separate proved from unproved categories. All reserve estimates involve some degree of uncertainty. Proved oil and gas reserves are those quantities of oil and gas, which, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be economically producible—from

399-431: The subsurface velocity to derive a three-dimensional velocity model: The conversion permits the production of depth and thickness maps that depict subsurface layers that are based on reflection data. These maps are crucial in hydrocarbon exploration because they permit the volumetric evaluation of gas or oil in place. In the example subsurface map presented below, depth increases from red to blue. The highest zone in red

420-410: The time it takes for reflected sound waves to travel through matter (rock) of varying densities and using the process of depth conversion to create a profile of the substructure. Finally, when a prospect has been identified and evaluated and passes the oil company's selection criteria, an exploration well is drilled in an attempt to conclusively determine the presence or absence of oil or gas. Offshore

441-665: Was the first discovery in the area, made in 1907, and followed by the Ixhuatlán oil field in 1911. By 1930, around 50 exploration wildcats were made, allowing the discovery of several oil fields such as Tupilco, Tonala, and Nuevo Teapa. Offshore exploration started in 1949 after a marine geophysical survey of the Coatzacoalcos and Grijalva rivers was acquired. In 1959, the Santa Ana field was discovered offshore. 2D seismic technology and better deep drilling techniques allowed

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