The Pelotas Basin, located offshore Brazil, is one of the world’s last unexplored clastic Cretaceous sedimentary sections, sharing similar sequences and prospectivity with the proven conjugate Orange Basin. This unexplored basin features classic play elements such as coarse-grained quartz-rich clastic reservoirs, various structural traps, and two prolific hydrocarbon sources.

Despite its straightforward geology, the basin’s vast clastic deposits from the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, variable sediment overburden, and differing hydrocarbon maturation stages suggest significant exploration potential, particularly for oil in Cretaceous reservoirs—a previously overlooked target.

In partnership with Shearwater and NAMCOR, this extensive multi-client 3D seismic survey will cover 12,000 square kilometers over multiple years. The first phase will capture 3,798 square kilometers of MC3D seismic data, with fast-track deliverables expected in Q3 2024.

This large-scale survey over such an expansive area of open acreage will provide critical insights into the geological setting of the Pelotas Basin. It will also reveal the relationship between the conjugate margins of the Pelotas Basin and the Orange Basin, significantly reducing exploration risk and opening up a whole new exploration frontier.