3-D seismic interpretation of late Tertiary structural heterogeneities in the mature giant oil field La

Cira-Infantas, Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (Colombia).

Mario A. Gutierrez* and Amos Nur, Rock Physics Laboratory, Geophysics Department, Stanford University.

Summary
La Cira-Infantas oil field is characterized by a series of
structural heterogeneities associated with early and late
Tertiary tectonic events. An intensely folded, faulted, and
eroded Cretaceous sequence underlies the Tertiary cover
below the Eocene unconformity. The west flank of a large
antiform, elongated in north-south direction, is highly
fractured by thrust faults that generate a series of asymmetric
secondary folds.
Late Tertiary structural heterogeneities comprise La Cira
and Infantas anticlines and two groups of associated faults.
The first group includes a set of low-angle reverse faults
with east- and west-vergence. Moreover, there are a number
of important normal faults, which compartmentalize La Cira
and Infantas anticlines into a set of reservoir blocks. Two
different patterns of normal faults were identified in plan
view: longitudinal and oblique.
The structural interpretation of 3-D seismic data, based on a
set of closely spaced measurements of the fault slip, allows
also an accurate mapping and analysis of the distribution of
cumulative slip on across normal faults. These faults,
formerly interpreted as continuous fault planes, consist of
several overstepping segments.
A simple parallel and small-displacement wrench zone
poorly developed during the Miocene-Pliocene explains the
folding, thrusting, and normal faulting of the Tertiary
deposits in the La Cira-Infantas structure. The new model of
structural heterogeneities provides a clear delineation of the
field production boundaries and compartments, and a
structural configuration concordant with the tectonic history
of the basin.
Introduction
The effective practice of secondary and tertiary hydrocarbon
recovery techniques requires a detailed modeling of the
geometry of the reservoir.
Generally structural, depositional, and diagenetic
heterogeneities compartmentalize reservoirs into flow units
of variable lateral and horizontal sizes.
These
heterogeneities thus often prevent efficient drainage and
sweep of reservoirs. As a result, understanding the genesis
and evolution of the characteristic reservoir heterogeneities
in three dimensions is essential to provide a realistic
conceptual model for flow studies.
Combining (a) core and well-log rock-physics analysis and
(b) the geological interpretation of 3D surface-seismic data,
we studied the architecture of Tertiary fluvial sandstone
reservoirs in the giant La Cira- Infantas oil field, with the
goal of presenting an integrated approach for seismically

mapped spatial distributions of petrophysical properties and

flow units.
The rock-physics and 3-D seismic characterization of flow
units in fluvial reservoirs is divided in three phases: (1)
Description and analysis of faulting, (2) study of
heterogeneities
associated
with
depositional
and
diagenetical processes, and (3) flow unit zonation & rockphysics analysis. In this paper, we introduce the results of
the first phase, where based on the detailed interpretation of
a specially acquired three-dimensional seismic data set, we
present a rigorous model of faulting in La Cira-Infantas oil
field.
Regional setting
La Cira-Infantas oil field is located in the central section of
the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (MMVB), an
asymmetric sedimentary basin characterized by a complex
geological evolution (Figure 1).

Colombia

La Cira-Infantas Oil
Field

Figure 1. Location of MMVB with La Cira-Infantas oil field (based on

Ecopetrol data, 1999).

Its geological evolution is comprised of a series of distinct

stages of tectonic development: the MMVB evolved as a
back-arc extension basin in the Triassic-Jurassic, a
pericratonic basin in the Cretaceous-Paleocene, and a
foreland basin with east-vergence during the EoceneOligocene. Since the Miocene, it has been an intermontane
basin (Ecopetrol, 1999).
The faults and folds in the MMVB show a predominant
NNE-SSW orientation. The sedimentary sequence of the
MMVB reaches a total thickness of 6 km, and comprises a
series of Jurassic continental sediments, calcareous and
siliciclastic oil bearing Cretaceous rocks of marine to
transitional origin, and oil rich Tertiary deposits (Figure 2).
The estimated oil originally in place of the La Cira-Infantas
oil field was 3700 million barrels (MMBO). After 80 years

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3-D seismic interpretation of structural heterogeneities

of exploitation and the drilling of 1703 wells, the cumulative
production has reached only 720 MMBO. This low
recovery factor (19 percent) is mostly due to the
heterogeneity of the reservoirs.
The siliciclastic reservoirs in La Cira-Infantas belong to the
Colorado Formation (Zone A) and Mugrosa Formation
(Zones B and C).

axis is approximately north-south oriented and is parallel to

La Cira fault.
The Infantas fold is a narrow and elongated antiform, whose
axis also trends north-south. This antiform is broken along
its crest line by the Infantas fault system, causing the uplift
and partial erosion of the east flank. A well-preserved west
flank is deformed by normal faults.

La Cira
Anticline

Figure 2. (a) Generalized stratigraphic column of MMVB, (b) typical La

Cira-Infantas SP well log, and (c) seismic response of Tertiary sediments.

Infantas
Anticline

La Cira-Infantas structural configuration

Several structural features were delineated and identified,
after careful analysis of 3-D seismic data and validation with
outcrop and well information. Based on the complex
tectonic history of the basin and the main periods of
deformation, the La Cira-Infantas structural heterogeneities
(folds and faults) can be divided in two main groups:

Early Tertiary Structures

Late Tertiary Structures

Early Tertiary structures
The new seismic images show, below the Eocene
unconformity, a heavily folded, faulted, and eroded
Cretaceous sequence. The primary structure of these
Cretaceous sediments is a large antiform, elongated in the
north-south direction. The west flank of this structure is
highly fractured by thrust faults that generated a series of
asymmetric hanging-wall secondary folds. These folds
show good exploration potential as possible deeper pool
reservoirs.
Late Tertiary structures
Late Tertiary heterogeneities associated with tectonic
deformation are the focus of this paper, including La Cira
and Infantas anticlines and associated features (Figure 3).
La Cira and Infantas anticlines
La Cira and Infantas anticlines show a clear and consistent
left-handed en-chelon-fold pattern. The La Cira anticline is
an asymmetric fold that plunges to the south and north. Its

Figure 3: Time structural map of the Zone B marker in La Cira-Infantas Field.

Yellow color indicates a high structural position

Thrust and reverse faults

Infantas fault system
The Infantas system comprises a set of low-angle reverse
faults with east-vergence. The fault planes cut the entire
Tertiary sequence and glide on a shaly section directly above
the Eocene unconformity. This thrust system is the main
eastern structural boundary in the oil field, playing an
important role in the generation of the field trap (Figures 4
and 5).
La Cira fault
This structural feature is a high-angle reverse fault with
west-vergence and north-south azimuth. The fault is located
in the central area of La Cira anticline. The fault plane cuts
the entire Tertiary sequence, reaching the Eocene
unconformity; however, the fault does not affect drastically
the Cretaceous deposits.

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3-D seismic interpretation of structural heterogeneities

Inline
5700

5600

5500

5400
Figure 5: Inline 5600 showing the vertical seismic expression of
the Infantas thrust in the east flank of La Cira anticline.

5300

5200

Longitudinal fault set

These are high-angle normal faults striking east-west and
with variable north or south vergence (Figure 4). Their
dominant orientation is perpendicular to the direction of the
folds and thrust faults (Figure 3 and 4). The faults appear to
cut the complete Tertiary sequence, reaching the Eocene
unconformity and the Cretaceous rocks below.

5100

5 km

West
Normal Fault
Thrust Fault

East
Time slice @ 400 ms

Figure 4: Time slice at 400 ms indicating the horizontal seismic

expression and interpretation of the major structural
heterogeneities.

Northern La Cira fault

This thrust fault is located in northern La Cira area,
presenting a low-angle plane with west-vergence, and a
north-south strike. Similarly to the Infantas thrust system,
this fault cuts the entire Tertiary sequence, and glides on a
shaly section directly above the Eocene unconformity.
Normal faults
La Cira and Infantas anticlines are compartmentalized by
many normal faults into an assemblage of reservoir blocks
(Figures 4 and 6). On the basis of the normal fault pattern in
plan view, we identified two different and clear sets: a
longitudinal set and an oblique set of faults.

Figure 6: Xline 1140 showing the vertical seismic expression of the normal
faults in the west flank of La Cira anticline.

Oblique fault set

This group comprises a set of high-angle normal faults with
a variable strike and dip orientation. In general, these faults
strike between 0 and 30 degrees on either side of the
dominant east-west azimuth of the longitudinal set (Figure
4).
Normal faults and slip distribution
Detailed examinations of the dip slip distribution on some of
the normal fault in northern La Cira area (e.g. normal fault
FNCN1 in figure 7), does not follow the simple pattern
usually expected from single and continuous normal faults,
where the tipline shapes are symmetrical and elliptical
(Willemse et al, 1996).

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3-D seismic interpretation of structural heterogeneities

1300

Xline 1200

1400

1500

Fault FCNC1

Inline
5740

Sands-116

5720

5700

5680

5660
1.5 km

West
Normal Fault
Thrust Fault

East
Time slice @ 400 ms

Northern La Cira Area

Figure 7: Time slice at 400 ms showing the horizontal seismic expression of

structural heterogeneities in Northern La Cira area.

For example, the description of dip slip along the seismic

markers Sands-116 and A4 shows that the normal fault
FNCN1, formerly interpreted as a continuous fault, consists
of at least five overstepping segments (Figure 8). Some
segments show a general symmetrical distribution about a
central maximum dip slip.

Parallelism of zone with well-documented wrench

faults.

Phases of deformation
The current structural configuration of the La Cira-Infantas
oil field is directly associated with at least two phases of
Tertiary deformation of the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin:
(a) During the middle Eocene uplift of the Central
Cordillera, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and probably lower Tertiary
deposits were folded, faulted and eroded.
(b) Later, during the Miocene-Pliocene, regional wrench
tectonics probably induced a secondary small-displacement
and simple parallel wrench system, initially developing a
single alignment of anticlines arranged in a left-handed en
chelon pattern. These folds were slightly fractured by
coexisting normal and reverse faults (e.g. La Cira fault).
More recently, a dominant dip-slip compressive tectonic
event, associated with a regional uplift of the complete
Eastern Cordillera in the Pliocene-Pleistocene, accelerated
the folding of the La Cira-Infantas structure, and
simultaneously these folds were highly broken by coexisting
normal and reverse separation faults.

120
dip slip 116(m)
dip slip A4(m)
100

Dip slip (m)

80

60

40

20

0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Horizontal Distance (m)

Figure 8: Strike projections of the dip slip distribution along the intersection
of the FCNC1 fault with the seismic markers Sands-116 and A-4.

Structural style
The La Cira-Infantas structural style consists of a single
alignment of anticlines, arranged in a left-handed en chelon
pattern, which are highly fractured by coexisting normal and
reverse separation faults.
La Cira-Infantas zone shows some structural data, which
support its classification as a small-displacement and simple
parallel wrenching case, where important compressive and
extensional forces were generated along the area of
deformation (Wilcox et al., 1973 and Harding, 1974):

En Echelon folds

Normal faults

Conjugate faults

Thrust and reverse faults

Conclusions
La Cira-Infantas oil field comprises a series of early and late
Tertiary structural heterogeneities. Late Tertiary structural
heterogeneities include La Cira and Infantas anticlines and
two groups of associated faults: low-angle reverse faults
with east- and west-vergence and an important number of
normal faults, which compartmentalize La Cira and Infantas
anticlines into a set of reservoir blocks.
The description of the dip slip suggests that normal faults
formerly interpreted as continuous fault planes, consist of
several overstepping segments. Therefore, integrating the
slip analysis into the reservoir studies is vital to effectively
characterize flow paths, fault sealing potential, and reservoir
compartmentalization.
Folding, thrusting, and normal faulting of Paleogene and
Neogene sediments in the La Cira-Infantas oil field are
explained with a simple parallel and small-displacement
wrench zone, which was slightly developed during the late
Miocene-Pliocene.

References
Ecopetrol,
1999,
Maps:
Sedimentary
basins
map,
http://www.ecopetrol.com.co/ecop/
Harding, T. P., 1974, Petroleum traps associated with wrench faults: AAPG
Bulletin, v. 58, No. 7, p.1290-1304.
Wilcox, R. E., T. P. Harding, and D. R. Seely, 1973, Basic wrench tectonics:
AAPG Bulletin v. 57, No. 1, p. 74-96.
Willemse, E., D. Pollard, and A. Aydin, 1996, Three-dimensional analyses of
slip distributions on normal faults arrays with consequences for fault
scaling, J. Struct. Geol. 18, 295-309.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Stanford Rock Physics and
Borehole Geophysics project. We would like to thank
Ecopetrol for providing the data. Thanks to Atilla Aydin and
David Pollard for useful comments and discussion.

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