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DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE UPPER

TRIASSIC-LOWER JURASSIC PUCARÁ GROUP, HUALLAGA BASIN, PERÚ

Article · April 2017

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R.N. Erlich Wilber Hermoza

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DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE UPPER

TRIASSIC-LOWER JURASSIC PUCARÁ GROUP, HUALLAGA BASIN, PERÚ

Robert N. Erlich, Cayo Energy L.P. (rerlich@cayoenergy.com); Wilber Hermoza, Repsol

(whermozac@repsol.com); Daniel Jarvie, Worldwide Geochemistry LLC (danjarvie@wwgeochem.com)

ABSTRACT

Stratigraphic, geochemical, and biomarker data from the Huallaga Basin suggest that organic carbon-rich
shales and limestones of the Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic Aramachay Formation of the Pucará Group,
previously identified as potential hydrocarbon source rocks in Peruvian Subandean basins, were deposited
under low oxygen or anoxic conditions within a semi-restricted basin. Rock-Eval and TOC data from
surface and subsurface locations show that although most Aramachay Formation shale and limestone
outcrop samples have relatively high organic carbon content, the unit has little remaining genetic
potential; Tmax data indicate that the thermal maturity of nearly all outcrop samples ranges from wet to dry
gas. Visual kerogen analyses show that Type II amorphous kerogen is the dominant type in the
Aramachay Formation. Cretaceous rocks within the Huallaga Basin are dominated by Type II/III and
Type III kerogen, and generally lack sufficient TOC to be effective source rocks for oil. Geochemical and
biomarker data indicate that rock extracts and seep oils were derived from mixed shale and carbonate
source facies dominated by marine algal and bacterial organic matter, and are similar to “Jurassic” oils
described from the Marañon and northwestern Ucayali Basins.

Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion models suggest that the generation and expulsion of oil from the
Aramachay Formation (likely the middle Aramachay Formation) began from west to east in the Huallaga
Basin, starting in the now exhumed western part of the basin during the Lower Cretaceous, extending
through the middle Oligocene in the central part of the basin, and into the Present in the eastern part of the
basin. Estimates of vitrinite reflectance (Ro) based on biomarker data indicate that Marañon Basin oils
derived from the Aramachay Formation were likely generated during the peak oil phase of generation;
oils in the northwestern Ucayali Basin were generated during the late oil phase of generation. Petroleum
extracts from outcrop samples in the northern part of the basin and oils from seeps along the southeastern
frontal thrust of the basin indicate a late oil level of thermal exposure. Migration of oils into the Marañon
and northwestern Ucayali Basins likely occurred prior to the early Pliocene, when formation of the
Andean frontal thrust cut off migration routes from the Huallaga Basin.

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