Abstract

MORA-HERNANDEZ, César Augusto et al. Geological habitat, gas geochemistry and prospectivity of natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas in the Middle Magdalena Valley basin, Colombia. Bol. geol. [online]. 2025, vol.47, n.2, pp.43-59.  Epub Sep 16, 2025. ISSN 0120-0283.  https://doi.org/10.18273/revbol.v47n2-2025002.

The Middle Magdalena Valley basin, with a total of 19.500 MBPE discovered of original oil in place (OOIP) is the second most important in Colombia. During 2021 the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH), audited the production of 53 fields with a production of 24 Giga Cubic Feet of Gas (GPCG), which represents 4% of the total gas produced in the country. Most of the gases produced in the basin are associated with crude oil and are classified as wet gas, with high propane (C3) and butane (C4) contents, confirming an excellent potential for both natural gas (NG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The main gas producing reservoirs in the basin correspond to Paleogene and Neogene units.

Based on geochemical characterization, wet gases are associated with primary kerogen cracking processes and dry gases with secondary cracking of crude oil. The most important plays for wet gas in the basin are structural, primarily faulted anticline and monoclinal structures, with strong stratigraphic control and mixed trapping mechanisms.

Keywords : Dry gas; Wet gas; Molecular and isotopic composition; Cracking; Plays.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )