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THE GIBRALTAR DISCOVERY, NORTHERN LLANOS FOOTHILLS, COLOMBIA: CASE HISTORY OF AN EXPLORATION SUCCESS IN A FRONTIER AREA

Abstract:

Ecopetrol's recent Gibraltar discovery was made in a previously little known area of the northern Llanos foothills of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. The structure at Gibraltar is complex and comprises a thrust stack with which are associated hangingwall anticlines providing four‐way closures (or three‐way against a sealing fault). The Gibraltar‐I well was originally drilled by Occidental in 2002. According to Ecopetrol's subsequent structural reinterpretation, this well penetrated the back limb of a fault propagation fold. This structural model was confirmed with a sidetrack well which penetrated the Palaeocene Barco Formation and demonstrated the presence of light hydrocarbons. A second objective of well re‐entry at Gibraltar was to investigate the Eocene Mirador Formation, a major reservoir unit elsewhere in the Llanos foothills, in case of missed or bypassed pay. Tests of the Mirador Formation verified the …