ABSTRACT

The Falcon basin, located in northwestern Venezuela, has been intermittently explored since
1912. Since 1912, 200 exploratory wells have been drilled and 12,000 km of seismic lines
have been acquired. This exploration effort has resulted in the discovery of eight small
producing fields in both onshore and offshore areas. The geologic history of the basin began
in the late Eocene, and deposition continued through the Pliocene to the Recent. Because
the basin is located at the boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates,
sedimentation was controlled primarily by tectonism as evidenced by seismic and well data.
Three structural systems developed as a result of east-west dextral crustal movement. The
first, consisting of a set of normal faults and associated horsts and grabens, forms the northern
extension of the Oligocene-Miocene basin. The second system, known as the Falcon
anticlinorium, includes east-northeaststriking parallel folds located in the center of the basin.
The third structural system encompasses the active east-striking right-lateral strike-slip faults
of which the Oca fault is the most relevant, owing to its regional extent. The stratigraphic
discontinuity within the basin is one of its principal features. The two stratigraphic stages
that have been recognized are the result of a late Eocene to early Miocene transgression and
a middle Miocene to Recent regression. The northern flank of the basin, including the
offshore area, has generated hydrocarbons from Oligocene and lower Miocene marine source
rocks. However, small quantities of crude oils of terrigenous origin have been generated from
Eocene source rocks. Based on the tectonic and stratigraphic framework of the Falcon basin,
a new conceptual model is proposed that can be applied to future hydrocarbon exploration in
the area.

INTRODUCTION
The Falcon basin includes the state of Falcon and the northern part of the state of Lara in
northwestern Venezuela (Figure 1). The boundaries of the basin have undergone only slight
changes during evolution of the basin. The limits of the basin on land are considered to be
those areas that include Oligocene and earlier sedimentation. The first regional geological
studies took place between 1912 and 1920 with the beginning of petroleum exploration in
the area. The geologists of the British Oil Field Company and Standard Oil Company
discovered some oil seeps close to the villages of Dabajuro, Mene de Mauroa, and Mene de
Acosta. They also reported the presence of kerogenimpregnated shales to the east of the
basin. The spectacular structures that were present throughout the area eventually caught the
attention of various groups within the oil industry. At the same time, the first discoveries
were being made in the Maracaibo basin. These discoveries helped to encourage exploratory
drilling activity in the adjacent Falcon basin. The location of the wells was based solely on
surface geologic information, and these wells were drilled downdip from the structures where
the more important oil seeps were found. The first commercial oil field in the Falcon basin,
the Mene de Mauroa field, was discovered in 1921. Afterwards, a series of discoveries were
made: Mamon and Hombre Pintado fields in 1926, Mene de Acosta field in 1927, Campo
Media in 1928, Cumarebo in 1931 (Payne, 1951), and finally the Tiguaje field in 1953, when
gravity and seismic methods began to be used in the area. By this time, 126 exploratory wells
had been drilled in an area that covered 20,000 km2. Reserves were estimated to be 1 billion
bbl of oil in place. The results of this costly exploration effort did not satisfy the expectations
of the oil industry. Following a prolonged standstill in the systematic exploration, the
Corporation Venezolana del Petroleo (CVP) began an exploration campaign in offshore La
Vela Bay in 1970. The company acquired 4000 km of seismic lines and drilled 26 wells that
resulted in the discovery of an additional 200 million bbl of oil in place. The discovery of
this commercial amount of hydrocarbons was the second made in the offshore areas of
Venezuela after the Gulf of Paria was discovered in 1958, and it led to a better understanding
of the hydrocarbon habitat in the Falcon basin. Prior to this, however, Zambrano et al. (1971)
produced a synthesis of the geological history of the area that provided a stepping stone for
future work. At the beginning of 1980, the exploration effort was renewed in western and
eastern Falcon by Maraven and Corpoven oil companies. Since then, new seismic data has
been obtained and 50 additional wells have been drilled, bringing totals to 12,000 km of
seismic lines, 200 exploratory wells, and some 800 development wells in the basin, including
La Vela Bay. One of the most important aspects of this campaign has been the results of the
geochemical analyses that were aimed at recognizing the source rocks and locating the areas
of hydrocarbon generation. Since 1912, the oil industry has explored the Falcon basin with
considerable effort. This has resulted in an enormous amount of unpublished technical and
geological reports. Muessig (1984) has thoroughly documented the more important
geological studies that were undertaken by universities, government institutions, and
industry. This paper shall deal primarily with the tectonic setting and sedimentary aspects
that provided the conditions for hydrocarbon accumulation. The major elements of the
geologic history of the Falcon basin, such as its depositional sequences and basin-forming
tectonics, are somewhat comparable with those of the Los Angeles basin (Barbat, 1956).
However, where the minor production of the Falcon basin in no way compares to the
extraordinary production of the Los Angeles basin. Therefore, in light of the similarities
between the two basins, we shall describe the more relevant features of the Falcon basin.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY
Although the geologic history of the Falcon basin begins during the Tertiary, earlier geologic
conditions played an important role in basin formation and must be taken into account. Based
on the classification system of Kingston et al. (1983), the basin-forming tectonic style is
related to plate convergence. With regard to the depositional cycles, two can be described.
The first is considered to be pre-late Eocene time and to have resulted in deposition of basal
sediments. The second cycle occurred between late Eocene and Recent and consists of
several depositional stages that were later deformed by various tectonic episodes. Little is
known about the sediments that belong to the first cycle because outcrops toward the
northwest and southeast of the basin are of only limited extent. A few wells have penetrated
Paleocene-Eocene sediments and have reached what may be an Upper Cretaceous section.
The sedimentary rocks that correspond to the second cycle provide the better-known sections
in the Falcon basin. This can be attributed to the widespread nature of the outcrops and to the
large number of wells drilled into these sedimentary rocks, particularly on the north flank of
the basin.

Tectonic Evolution and Principal Structures

The Falcon basin is located within the area of interaction between the South American and
Caribbean plates. It originated as a pull-apart basin, beginning in the early Tertiary as a result
of right-lateral, east-west strike-slip movement along the plate boundary (Muessig, 1984).
As a result of a single phase of crustal movement, three structural systems developed
simultaneously within the basin. Each evolved with a maximum intensity at a different time.
The first structural system consists of a set of northwest-striking normal faults located in the
northern part of the basin. Their interpretation is based on Bouguer anomaly gravity maps
(Bonini et al., 1977) (Figure 2). This set of faults forms a series of horst and graben structures.
Among these are the Urumaco trough, the Coro-Paraguana High, the La Vela Bay structure
(trough with local southern horst), the Aruba High, and similar horsts and grabens to the east
(Figure 3A). With the integration of seismic and well data, the tectonic evolution of the areas
of major exploration activity, such as the Urumaco trough, can be dated. Seismic lines 80-
DU-G and 80-OC-I were joined to form one section that crosses the trough in a transverse,
east-west direction (Figure 4). The western and eastern boundaries of the Urumaco trough
are defined by the Lagarto fault and the Sabaneta fault. Gradual subsidence with an eastern
tilt started in the Oligocene and continued until the early Miocene. A more homogeneous
subsidence after this time is evident from the section. The second structural system consists
of several eastnortheast- striking parallel folds of great length that are situated in the center
of the basin. These folds are collectively known as the Falcon anticlinorium and are the result
of a northwest compressive component (Figure 3B). In areas of maximum stress, thrusting
developed parallel to the folds. The most notable thrust is the Guadalupe thrust near the town
of La Vela. This deformational system grew in intensity with time, ending in late Miocene
with basin inversion. It is believed that dextral movement of blocks towards the northeast
along the Bocoho fault (Schubert, 1980) has played an important role in the folding of the
Oligocene-Miocene formations in the basin. This movement is also responsible for
overthrusting of the Cretaceous metamorphics on top of Tertiary turbiditic sediments in the
Barquisimeto-Carora area after basin formation (Figure 3B). A third structural system of east-
striking right-lateral strike-slip faults started developing within the basin in late Eocene and
continued through the Tertiary up to the Recent. These faults resulted from shifting and
regional shearing of the entire crustal block in the basin. As the basin was gradually filled
with sediments, the zone of shear was reduced, thus concentrating the intensity of the
strikeslip movement along the Oca fault system (Feo Codecido, 1972; Vasquez and Dickey,
1972) (Figure 3C). The more recent seismic-reflection studies undertaken in the western part
of Falcon State, along the Oca fault system, have detected three right-lateral strike-slip faults
forming flower structures that can be observed along parts of the fault zone and that are
separated from one another by synclinal blocks. The names of these three faults are Oca, El
Mayal and Ancon de Iturre (Figure 5). A late Eocene to early Oligocene age was determined
for the infill sediments of these synclinal blocks from sparse well data, thus indicating an
approximate time for the beginning of the Oca fault system. To the west, the faults come
together in the El Tablazo depression. To the east they penetrate the basin, where recent
movements along the faults cut across the large folds of the Falcon anticlinorium (Figure
3C).