BrasilSPAN

With the world's largest oilfield discoveries of the past 20 years found along the coast of Brazil, it's no wonder there is significant interest in the basins offshore Brazil.

BrasilSPAN is a multi-faceted regional PreSDM seismic dataset and geologic study. With the latest expansion added in early 2012, the program now contains over 50,000 km, and provides the oil and gas industry with the first contiguous dataset of Brazil's coastline. It yields a more complete understanding of the regional geology of South America's Atlantic Margin, and it provides pertinent information related to possible Lula (previously known as the Tupi field) analogs in the petroleum systems offshore West Africa.

The Three Phases of BrasilSPAN

• Phase I: BrasilSPAN Salt Study - 14,000 km of data imaging the Campos, Santos, and Espirito Santos basins of central Brazil - processed with GXT's RTM technology
• Phase II: BrasilSPAN Pelotas - 11,000 km of data imaging the southern Santos and Pelotas basins along the coast of Brazil
• Phase III: Greater BrasilSPAN - 25,000 km of data imaging the northeastern and equatorial margins of Brazil from Espirito Santos to the Brazil-French Guiana border

Program Objectives

• Provide a regional depth framework to better understand the region's tectonic architecture and basement structure
• Build paleo-tectonic "fits" with corresponding regions in Africa through ION's AfricaSPAN datasets covering Angola to Nigeria
• Develop a model for the hydrocarbon potential of rifted continental fragments across Brazil's deepwater provinces and use this relationship to build better outboard models beyond Lula and Jupiter discoveries
• Develop new plays based on proven and new petroleum systems
• Provide comprehensive interpretation that includes maps of the area's active petroleum systems
• Promote better understanding of the development of the Amazon delta and the potential for new petroleum