The Emerging Unconventional Upper Jurassic Oil Play in Mexico

Abstract

In recent years, oil and gas production from unconventional resources has been of particular importance in the United States and Canada. In Mexico on the other hand, the current status of shale development still remains in the exploration phase. Nevertheless, despite its incipient evolution, the Upper Jurassic Pimienta shale play has demonstrated very prospective characteristics, particularly because of the type of produced hydrocarbons (i.e. light-oil and NGL's) and the brittle nature of its reservoir rock. This paper describes the advances in the evaluation of the unconventional Jurassic Oil Play in Mexico. Production test results and descriptive analyses made in terms of their textural, petrophysical, geochemical and mineralogical conditions of this emerging play are presented. Comparison to other producing shale plays is also discussed and reveal encouraging potential. This work aims to increase the level of understanding of the unconventional Upper Jurassic Pimienta formation that eventually may contribute to Mexico´s oil output. Additionally, the Mexican authority plans to offer shale exploration blocks through an international auction in the future. The content of this paper may help as reference to describe the basic elements of this play.