GEOLOGIC ASSESSMENT OF UNDISCOVERED OIL AND GAS RESOURCES OF THE NORTH CUBA BASIN, CUBA

By Christopher J. Schenk

2010

OPEN-FILE REPORT 2010–1029

Version 1.0

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

85°0'0"W 80°0'0"W

20°0'0"N

25°0'0"N

North Cuba

Platform Margin

Carbonate AU

North Cuba

Fold and Thrust

Belt AU

North Cuba

Foreland Basin AU

0 150 Kilometers

0 150 Miles

FLORIDA

YUCATAN

PLATFORM

WEST

 FLORIDA

 SHELF

CUBA

Gulf of Mexico

BAHAMA

PLATFORM

Atlantic

Ocean

Caribbean

Sea

Yucatan

Basin

Cayman Trough

Florida Escarpment

JAMAICA

N.W. S.E.

No scale

Continental basement

Synriff

Postrift carbonate platform

Postrift deep-water facies

Tertiary syntectonic deposit

Tertiary post-tectonic deposit

Active faults

Nonactive faults

(E)

(D)

(C)

(B)

(A)

1000

1,000

1,000

000, 1

1,000

2,000

1,000

200

200

200

200

200

200

86°W 84°W 82°W 80°W

22°N

24°N

26°N

BAHAMAS

CUBA

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean Sea

YUCATAN

PLATFORM

FLORIDA

0 200 Kilometers

0 200 Miles

1,000

1,000

1,000

000, 1

1,000

2,000

1,000

200

200

200

200

200

200

86°W 84°W 82°W 80°W

22°N

24°N

26°N

BAHAMAS

CUBA

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean Sea

YUCATAN

PLATFORM

FLORIDA

0 200 Kilometers

0 200 Miles

(A) (B)

1000

1,000

1,000

000, 1

1,000

2,000

1,000

200

200

200

200

200

200

86°W 84°W 82°W 80°W

22°N

24°N

26°N

BAHAMAS

CUBA

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean Sea

YUCATAN

PLATFORM

FLORIDA

0 200 Kilometers

0 200 Miles

(C)

1,000

1,000

1,000

000, 1

1,000

2,000

1,000

200

200

200

200

200

200

86°W 84°W 82°W 80°W

22°N

24°N

26°N

BAHAMAS

CUBA

Gulf of Mexico

Caribbean Sea

FLORIDA

YUCATAN

PLATFORM

0 200 Kilometers

0 200 Miles

(D)

PLATFORM FORELAND FOLD AND THRUST BELT

TERTIARY CRETACEOUS JURASSIC FAULT

Post-rift

Basement

Synrift

source rocks

possible

accumulations

source rocks

source rocks

Cross-Section

Y

M

M

Me

reefal plays

Mesozoic

reefal plays

sozoic

ESOZOI

I

C

UCATA

A

N

RG N

Y

M

M

ESOZOI

I

C

UCATA

A

N

N

RIFT SEQUENCE

RG

CUBAN

THRUST BELT

CUBAN

THRUST BELT

CUBA 115

103

103

JORDAN KNOLL

THRUST BELT

FORELAND BASIN (BASINAL DOMAIN)

YUCATAN PLATFORM

STRUCTURAL HIGH, WITH UPPER JURASSIC SEDIMENTS

SLOPE FACIES CONTINENTAL MARGIN ROCKS 

(JURASSIC AND CRETACEOUS)

YUCATAN SCARP

MAIN SEISMIC STRUCTURES ON TOP OF

CONTINENTAL MARGIN ROCKS

SEISMIC LINES

N 100 Kilometers

0 100 Miles

Oil

Gas

Oil

Gas

Oil

Gas

Field

Type Oil (MMBO) Gas (BCFG) NGL (MMBNGL)

Total Petroleum Systems 

(TPS)

and Assessment Units (AU)

Total Undiscovered Oil and Gas 

Resources

North Cuba Platform 

Margin Carbonate AU

Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite TPS

Total Undiscovered Resources

North Cuba Fold 

and Thrust Belt AU

North Cuba Foreland 

Basin AU

Conventional Oil

and Gas Resources

[MMBO, million barrels of oil. BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas. MMBNGL, million barrels of natural gas liquids. Results shown are fully risked 

estimates. For gas fields, all liquids are included under the NGL (natural gas liquids) category. F95 represents a 95-percent chance of at least 

the amount tabulated. Other fractiles are defined similarly. Fractiles are additive under the assumption of perfect positive correlation. TPS is 

Total Petroleum System. AU is Assessment Unit. Gray shade indicates not applicable]

CUBA 115

108

105

105

103

CUBAN THRUST BELT (VARADERO PLAY)

MIGRATION

SEISMIC LINE

KNOLLS

CUBAN FORELAND BASIN (STRUCTURAL

HIGHS AT THE BASE OF FOREDEEP)

PLATFORM SLOPE (STRUCTURALSTRATIGRAPHIC TRAPS)

YUCATAN PLATFORM AND MARGIN

(BUILD UPS, REEFAL AND STRUCTURAL)

UPPER JURASSIC HIGH (STRUCTURAL

AND REEFAL HIGHS)

50 Kilometers

0 50 Miles

N

MAIN SEISMIC STRUCTURES ON TOP 

OF CONTINENTAL MARGIN ROCKS

TSU AGE

R

S

S

S

R

R

R

R

R

POST

OROGENICO

ZAZA

NEOGENE PALEOGENE PALEOGENE JURASSIC

E.

CRET.

CRET.

PAL.

PAL.

PAL.

JUR.

JUR.

CRET.

PLACETAS CAMAJUANI

JURASSIC

REMEDIOS

BASEMENT

CAYO COCO

JUR.-CRET.

EARLY

CRETACEOUS

COLOR

-ADOS

CRET.-

JUR.

PAL.JUR.-CRET.

Limestone

Dolomite

Reef

Sandstone

Shale

Olistostrome

Basement

Serpentinite

Potential source rock

Reservoir

TSU Tectono stratigraphic

 unit

Seal

EXPLANATION

Geologic Model for Assessment

Petroleum generated in the fold and thrust belt during Paleocene thrust loading and (or) petroleum generated from the deeper part of the foreland basin migrated vertically and laterally 

into carbonate reservoirs trapped in broad compressional structures, and within clastic reservoirs in the foreland basin sedimentary sequence. Potential reservoirs within the deep synrift 

section also are included in this AU, but models indicate that source rocks in the synrift section probably are overmature. Pooled petroleum is predicted to be oil and gas; some geochemical data from fields in the thrust belt indicate that thermally evolved or mature gas might be 

present in some reservoirs. Reservoirs in broad compressional structures may require fracturing to improve productivity because carbonates generally make up the fine-grained facies. 

Some of the carbonate rock in core from Site 535 is fractured, and the site is not in proximity 

to structure. Seals are predicted to be adjacent to nonfractured fine-grained carbonates. Some 

of the carbonate rocks in this AU might have been subjected to karst-forming processes during 

the formation of the fold and thrust belt (Rosenfeld and Blickwede, 2006), and the karst zones 

could form adequate hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, the presence of adequate reservoir 

quality is a significant geologic risk in this AU.

There are no oil or gas fields in the North Cuba Foreland Basin AU. Only one well has 

been reported, and it was drilled in the offshore in 2004 by the Spanish oil company Repsol. 

Although details of production tests are not available, Repsol announced that tests showed 

that the well penetrated a noncommercial light-oil accumulation. Two delineation wells are 

planned but have not been drilled as of early 2008. 

North Cuba Platform Margin Carbonate AU

The North Cuba Platform Margin Carbonate AU (fig. 1) encompasses all potential reservoirs 

developed in carbonate-platform-margin environments along the Yucatan and Bahama margins. 

The area of this AU is somewhat limited compared to the other AUs, but the potential reservoirs—including reef, fore-reef, and carbonate debris-flow reservoirs—might be prolific. These 

reservoirs might be stacked because the platform margin remained relatively stable from Late 

Jurassic through Cretaceous.

By analogy, carbonate reservoirs are well known in equivalent-age rocks from the southern 

Gulf of Mexico (Enos, 1977; Enos and Moore, 1983; Cook and Mullins, 1983; Magoon and 

others, 2001). Reef trends are well documented around the Gulf Coast (McFarland and Menes, 

1991), especially in the Lower Cretaceous. Porosity can be high in these reservoirs and, as with 

all carbonate rocks, porosity is largely dependent upon the diagenetic history. Fore-reef and 

debris-flow reservoirs are especially significant in the Mexican part of the Gulf of Mexico. Generally defined as Tamabra-like reservoirs (Magoon and others, 2001), these rocks contain some 

giant oil accumulations in the Mexican Gulf Coast. The reservoirs generally represent reef talus 

or debris flows of reef and shelf detritus that accumulated on the slope or in the basin; then they 

became encased in finer grained rocks that are excellent seals. Porosity can be high, possibly enhanced by processes associated with sea-level drawdown in the Paleogene (Rosenfeld and 

Pindell, 2003).

The lack of drilling prevents anything more than general speculation as to the reservoir and 

trapping conditions that might exist in the North Cuba Platform Margin Carbonate AU. However, by analogy with carbonate rocks described above for the Mexican Gulf Coast, there is 

a high probability that geologic characteristics are similar. Another major source of geologic 

uncertainty concerns hydrocarbon migration and reservoir charge. For reservoirs to have been 

charged with oil, the oil must have been generated in the North Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt or 

North Cuba Foreland Basin AUs followed by lateral migration into potential reef, fore-reef, or 

slope-basin reservoirs. The only evidence for lateral migration of oil is the staining of carbonate rock in the DSDP Site 535 core. Questions remain as to how much fluid might have migrated and whether there was enough fluid to adequately charge a potential reservoir of minimum size.

The petroleum phase in this AU is interpreted to be oil, but this interpretation involves considerable geologic uncertainty. Nonassociated gas was not assessed in this AU.

Geologic Model for Assessment

Petroleum generated by thrust loading of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous source 

rocks in the Paleogene during the formation of the fold and thrust belt would have to migrate 

laterally for a great distance for it to have accumulated within reservoirs of this AU. The geologic model involves petroleum being generated in the thrust belt or possibly from the deeper 

part of the foreland basin, then migrating laterally into reservoirs formed along the margins 

of the Yucatan and Florida/Bahama carbonate platforms. Reservoirs are postulated to be 

largely reef, fore-reef, and carbonate debris-flow units along the platform margins, similar to 

the reservoirs in the Mexican part of the Gulf Coast (Magoon and others, 2001). These types 

of reservoirs are fundamental to petroleum systems of the Mexican Gulf Coast, and debrisflow reservoirs in particular might represent one of the highest quality reservoir types in the 

Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite TPS. Another reservoir type might be karst zones within the 

platform carbonates (Valladares-Amaro and others, 2003b) because karst possibly developed 

during the formation of the fold and thrust belt (Rosenfeld and Blickwede, 2006).

Although the reservoir type is analogous, migration distances in the Mexican Gulf Coast 

example appear to have been less than in this composite TPS. Distance of migration required 

for the Cuban reservoirs might therefore constitute a significant geologic risk in the estimation 

of undiscovered oil resources in this AU. No oil and gas fields are known, and there has been 

no exploration to date (2008).

Publishing support provided by: 

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Manuscript approved for publication February 1, 2010

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Suggested citation:

Schenk, C.J., 2010, Geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the North Cuba Basin, 

Cuba: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010–1029, 1 sheet.

Introduction

Petroleum generation in the North Cuba Basin is primarily the result of thrust loading of 

Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks during formation of the North Cuba fold and thrust 

belt in the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene. The fold and thrust belt formed as Cuban arcforearc rocks along the leading edge of the Caribbean plate translated northward during 

the opening of the Yucatan Basin and collided with the passive margin of southern North 

America in the Paleogene. Petroleum fluids generated during thrust loading migrated vertically into complex structures in the fold and thrust belt, into structures in the foreland basin, 

and possibly into carbonate reservoirs along the margins of the Yucatan and Bahama carbonate platforms. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defined a Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite Total Petroleum System (TPS) and three assessment units (AU)—North Cuba Fold 

and Thrust Belt AU, North Cuba Foreland Basin AU, and the North Cuba Platform Margin 

Carbonate AU—within this TPS based mainly on structure and reservoir type (fig. 1). There 

is considerable geologic uncertainty as to the extent of petroleum migration that might have 

occurred within this TPS to form potential petroleum accumulations. Taking this geologic 

uncertainty into account, especially in the offshore area, the mean volumes of undiscovered 

resources in the composite TPS of the North Cuba Basin are estimated at (1) 4.6 billion barrels of oil (BBO), with means ranging from an F95 probability of 1 BBO to an F5 probability of 9 BBO; and (2) 8.6 trillion cubic feet of of gas (TCFG), of which 8.6 TCFG is associated with oil fields, and about 1.2 TCFG is in nonassociated gas fields in the North Cuba 

Foreland Basin AU.

Geological Evolution of the Northern 

Caribbean Area

The geology of the Caribbean area in general and Cuba in particular is complex, and many 

decades of geologic investigations have pieced together the main elements of the geologic evolution of Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico Basin, and the proto-Caribbean oceanic basin (Pardo, 1975; 

Schlager and others, 1984; Ball and others, 1985; Lewis and Draper, 1990; Pindell and Barrett, 

1990; Hempton and Barros, 1993; Pindell, 1993, 1994; Piotrowska, 1993; Draper and Barros, 

1994; Iturralde-Vinent, 1994; Gordon and others, 1997; Meschede and Frisch, 1998; Kerr and 

others, 1999; Pszczolkowski, 1999; CobiellaReguera, 2000; Pindell and Kennan, 2001, 2003; 

Pszczolkowski and Myczynski, 2003; Pindell 

and others, 2005; Iturralde-Vinent, 2006; Fillon, 

2007; Rojas-Agramonte and others, 2008). From 

the earliest studies, the geology of Cuba was recognized as a series of north-verging thrust-faultbounded tectonostratigraphic units (TSU), and 

the geologic definition of many TSUs was the 

focus of many previous investigations. Eventually, tectonic studies in Cuba and in the northern 

Caribbean placed these TSUs in a framework 

of modern tectonic theory (Pindell and Kennan, 

2001, 2003; Pindell and others, 2005). Detailed 

work demonstrated that the TSUs were the product of the collision between shelf, slope, and 

basinal sediments of the Mesozoic passive margin of the Yucatan and Bahama Platforms and 

the arc-forearc rocks of the leading edge of the 

Pacific-derived Caribbean plate as the Yucatan 

Basin opened in the Paleogene (Pindell and others, 2005). The stratigraphy of Cuba is complex, 

and many stratigraphic studies reflect the stacked 

thrust sheets produced during plate collision (fig. 

2). However, the general stratigraphy of many 

TSUs has been interpreted and restored, documenting general stratigraphic relations.

Major events in the geologic history of northwestern Cuba include (1) rifting between North 

America, South America, and Africa in Late 

Triassic-Early Jurassic time; (2) the tectonic 

evolution and passive-margin sedimentary history of the southeast Gulf of Mexico; (3) the 

development of the proto-Caribbean ocean basin 

and its passive margin; (4) movement of the Caribbean plate since the Early Cretaceous; and (5) 

Paleogene development of the Yucatan Basin and resultant collision and suturing of allochthonous 

Cuba terranes with the passive margin of the Bahama Platform (Case, 1975; Haczewski, 1976; 

Salvador, 1987, 1991; Marton and Buffler, 1993, 1994; Sheridan and others, 1983; Angstadt and 

others, 1985; Ladd and Sheridan, 1987; Sassen and others, 1987; Rosencrantz, 1990; Pindell, 

1993; Walles, 1993; Magoon and others, 2001; Wagner and others, 2003; Iturralde-Vinent, 2003; 

Magnier and others, 2004; Pindell and others, 2005) (fig. 3). The tectonic evolution of the northern 

Caribbean was summarized for this assessment by Schenk (2008).

Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite Total 

Petroleum System

A TPS is an integration of the tectonic, sedimentary, and thermal history of an area and 

is defined to encompass all fluids that have been generated from genetically related pods of 

thermally mature petroleum source rocks. In the North Cuba Basin, three major types of oils 

are present, which reflect the presence of potential source rocks. However, it is not possible 

on the basis of currently (2008) available geochemical information to isolate and define separate petroleum systems. Accordingly, a single petroleum system—The Jurassic-Cretaceous 

Composite TPS—was defined for the North Cuba Basin (fig.1).

Petroleum Source Rocks

Geochemical analyses and interpretations of samples of potential petroleum source 

rocks, oils, and gases have quantitatively defined several source rocks and potential petroleum systems of the North Cuba area (Maksimov and others, 1986; Lopez-Quintero and 

others, 1994; Navarette-Reyes and others, 1994; Lopez-Rivera and others, 2003a,b; Moretti 

and others, 2003a,b; Magnier and others, 2004). These are (1) Lower to Middle Jurassic 

rift-related mudstones; (2) Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deep-water, organic-rich 

carbonate mudstones; (3) Upper Cretaceous deep-water carbonate mudstones; and (4) possibly Paleogene mudstones (fig. 4). Of these, the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous 

deep-water carbonate mudstones are considered to be volumetrically the most significant 

petroleum source rocks in the basin (Moretti and others, 2003a,b). Paleogene source rocks 

and fluids also have been reported, but these fluids are not considered to be volumetrically 

significant because of the low level of thermal maturation of these sediments (Magnier and 

others, 2004) relative to the generative windows in the foreland basin.

Moretti and others (2003b) discussed the results of thermal modeling aimed at determining the timing of petroleum generation in several source-rock intervals in the North Cuba 

Basin. For the synrift source rocks, modeling results indicate that the synrift source rocks 

are overmature with respect to oil generation within the thrust belt and foreland basin areas. 

Within the deep offshore area, synrift source rocks are interpreted to be just within the oil 

generation window. For the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous fine-grained carbonate 

source rocks, modeling indicates probable thermal maturity within the thrust belt and possibly also in the deeper parts of the foreland; however, in the majority of the foreland and 

platform areas, modeling indicates the rocks are thermally immature for oil generation. This 

conclusion is corroborated by the findings from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 

535 well (Herbin and others, 1984; Katz, 1984; Palacas and others, 1984 a,b; Patton and 

others, 1984; Rullkoter and others, 1984; Summerhayes and Masran, 1984). Modeling also 

indicates that gas generation may have occurred within the thrust belt and the deeper parts 

of the foreland (Moretti and others, 2003b).

The source rocks may be thermally mature at depth in the fold and thrust belt and in the 

deeper parts of the foreland basin, but the shallower stratigraphic intervals of potential Cretaceous source rocks to the west of the fold and thrust belt are not thermally mature. Petroleum from the thrust belt and from the foreland basin might have migrated updip into traps 

in the thrust belt and in the foreland basin (Lopez-Rivera and others, 2003a,b), and possibly 

also migrated laterally to the margins of the Yucatan and Bahama carbonate platforms. Oil 

shows in core from DSDP Site 535 and from wells along the southwest margin of the Bahama Platform indicate that migration of petroleum occurred within the Jurassic-Cretaceous 

Composite TPS. Although oil is the hydrocarbon in the onshore fields in Cuba, oil and nonassociated gas accumulations might be present in the deeper parts of the thrust belt and in 

the foreland basin.

Geologic Definition of Assessment Units

North Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt AU

The North Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt AU (fig. 1), which encompasses all reservoirs within potential structural traps of the fold and thrust belt, is mainly onshore, but a part includes 

some offshore areas (figs. 5 and 6). All of the known oil and gas fields of the North Cuba 

Basin lie within this AU. The source for petroleum is interpreted to be primarily from Upper 

Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous organic-bearing carbonates, but synrift mudstones, Upper 

Cretaceous carbonate mudstones, and Paleogene mudstones also might have contributed 

petroleum to this system.

The North Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt AU contains up to 12 km of Jurassic through Cretaceous carbonate rocks (Hernandez-Perez and Blickwede, 2000), which host the largest 

oil fields in Cuba (Valledares-Amaro and others, 2003a,b). The AU is dominated by structural traps, mainly folds, fault-related folds, faulted anticlines, and duplex structures. The 

structures have been investigated for decades, and many exploration plays have been developed within the fold and thrust belt. Seismic data generally illustrate a stack of thrust sheets 

forming the thrust belt. Stratigraphic traps might be present, but they are not considered 

to be significant in this AU. All of the known fields in this AU either produce or have produced from reservoirs within structural traps, and several published examples of fields have 

documented the structural complexity of fields within the Cuban fold and thrust belt. The 

oil in most of the reservoirs is heavy (API gravity less than 20 degrees), and the low gravities might be due to biodegradation related to the shallow depth of most reservoirs (Campos-Jorge and others, 1994).

Reservoirs in this AU are reported to be nearly all fine-grained carbonate rocks associated with structural traps. Fractures that formed during thrusting appear to be essential in 

developing porosity and permeability in carbonate rocks. Little published information is 

available on reservoir quality. However, Brey del Rey and Hernandez-Leon (1998) concluded that diagenesis is complex in these carbonates, and that secondary porosity developed at 

depth is important for improving reservoir quality. Some of the Cretaceous platform carbonates might have been subjected to karst-forming processes, which also would enhance reservoir quality (Valledares-Amaro and others, 2003a,b).

The geologic model for this AU includes (1) structural trapping of oil and possibly gas 

that was generated within the fold and thrust belt; and (2) vertical migration into complex 

structures, where the shallow depth of many reservoirs led to degradation of the hydrocarbons, resulting in low API gravities. 

Geologic Model for Assessment

Petroleum, both oil and gas, generated in the Paleogene by thrust loading of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous source rocks, migrated vertically along faults and into carbonate reservoirs within the fold and thrust belt. Petroleum might be biodegraded in shallow 

reservoirs, but not in deeper accumulations. Although exploration has focused on the shallower accumulations, significant resources might be present in deeper reservoirs, including 

oil and nonassociated gas. Seals are provided by intraformational mudstones and possibly 

by diagenesis within the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous strata. This AU also might 

have reservoirs within synrift strata that potentially contain petroleum. There is a possibility that Paleogene source rocks might have contributed some petroleum, but volumes from 

this source are considered to be minor compared to those from the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks. More than 20 oil fields have been discovered in this AU, but production 

data are not available for all fields, nor is the status of several fields presently (2008) known.

North Cuba Foreland Basin AU

The North Cuba Foreland Basin AU (fig. 1) encompasses all reservoirs in the foreland 

basin part of the North Cuba Basin, including potential reservoirs in the deeper, rift-related 

part of the AU. This AU is entirely offshore, and to date (2008) only one well has been 

drilled; the well reportedly penetrated rock with light hydrocarbons but no more is presently known about the test results. Trapping in this AU is interpreted to be mostly structural, with structures having formed as a result of (1) rifting in the Triassic and Jurassic, (2) 

extensional structures in the Mesozoic, (3) extensional structures inverted in the Paleogene 

compressional event (Letouzey and others, 2003), and (4) folds in foreland-basin strata. 

Stratigraphic traps might be present in clastic rocks of the foreland, with the south-dipping 

clastics possibly forming updip pinch-out traps (Hernandez-Perez and Blickwede, 2000).

Reservoirs in the North Cuba Foreland Basin AU, although in the hypothetical category, are interpreted to be mainly in carbonate rocks. In the area that is now the foreland (and within this AU), a shallow-water carbonate “megabank” existed during Aptian 

and early Albian time (Denny and others, 1994). This feature was subaerially exposed 

in the late Albian, most likely because of a sea-level drop, and the exposed surface was 

extensively karsted, which would have resulted in excellent porosity at this stratigraphic 

level (Valladares-Amaro and others, 2003a,b). Subsequently, the megabank foundered 

and broke up, and the blocks were covered by finer grained sediments (Denny and others, 

1994; Chambers and others, 2003; Sanchez-Arango and others, 2003). Under these conditions, many reservoirs with zones of excellent porosity might have formed, all of which 

were subsequently sealed by finer grained rocks. Reservoirs also might be present in the 

deep synrift grabens that underlie the foreland basin.

Modeling indicates that some of the potential source rocks in the North Cuba Foreland 

Basin AU might have passed into the thermal generative windows for oil and gas, but 

there is considerable uncertainty as to the hydrocarbon phase that might exist in this AU. 

An estimate was made that undiscovered fields would be 90 percent oil fields and 10 percent gas fields.

Assessment Results

The USGS assessed undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the North Cuba 

Basin, exclusive of reserve growth. The USGS estimated means of 4.6 billion barrels of oil 

(BBO), 9.8 TCF of natural gas (8.6 TCF of associated-dissolved gas and 1.2 TCF of 

nonassociated gas), and a mean total of 0.9 billion barrels of natural gas liquids for the 

three AUs (table 1). Of the estimated mean of 4.6 BBO, about 0.49 BBO are in the North 

Cuba Fold and Thrust Belt AU, about 3.2 BBO are in the North Cuba Foreland Basin AU, 

and about 0.9 BBO are in the North Cuba Platform Margin Carbonate AU (table 1). All of 

the nonassociated gas (1.2 TCF; gas in gas fields) was assessed in the North Cuba Foreland 

Basin AU.

Summary

 The potential for undiscovered petroleum resources of the North Cuba Basin historically has focused on the heavy oil fields of the onshore fold and thrust belt (Echevarria-Rodriguez and others, 1991; Pindell, 1991; Petzet, 2000; Oil and Gas Journal, 1993, 2000, 2002, 

2005), but recent efforts have focused on the offshore potential (fig.7) (Vassalli and others, 

2003; Moretti and others, 2003a,b; Magnier and others, 2004). This study indicates that the 

offshore of the North Cuba Basin might have significant potential for undiscovered oil and 

gas resources (Schenk, 2008).

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Bulletin, v. 69, no. 6, p. 977–995.

Ball, M.M., Martin, R.G., Bock, W.D., Sylvester, R.E., Bowles, R.M., Taylor, D., Coward, E.L., Dodd, J.E., 

and Gilbert, L., 1985, Seismic structure and stratigraphy of northern edge of Bahaman-Cuban collision 

zone: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 69, no. 8, p. 1275–1294.

Brey del Rey, D., and Hernanndez-Leon, J., 1998, Diagenesis and its influence on the creation or destruction 

of porosity in carbonate sequences from Placetas TSU, in Mello, M.R., and Yilmaz, P.O., eds.: American 

Association of Petroleum Geologists 1998 International Conference and Exhibition, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 

Extended abstracts volume, p. 168–169.

Campos-Jorge, P.G., Navarrete-Reyes, L.E., and Lopez-Quintero, J.O., 1994, Biodegradation effects on oils 

from the Cuban northern oil province, in Mello, M.R., Trinidade, L.A.F., and Hessel, M.H.R., eds.: Bucaramanga, Colombia, Fourth Latin American Congress on Organic Geochemistry, Extended abstracts volume, 

p. 52–57.

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ocean basins and margins, chap. 13, v. 3, The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: New York, Plenum Press, 

p. 107–180.

Chambers, A., Lukita, P., Hach, C.S., Villaverde, S.T., Molina, C.R., and Bachmann, H., 2003, Structural 

controls on the hydrocarbon prospectivity of Blocks 25-29 and 36, offshore northern Cuba [abs.]: Barcelona, Spain, American Association of Petroleum Geologists International Conference and Exhibition, Official program book, p. A17.

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Figure 1. Locations of Cuba, Yucatan Platform, Yucatan Basin, Florida, Florida Escarpment, West 

Florida Shelf, Bahama Platform, and the general bathymetry of parts of the Gulf of Mexico, 

Yucatan Basin, Cayman Trough, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean. Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite TPS shown by yellow line. North Cuba Basin boundary is same as composite TPS boundary in 

this study. Faults are shown as black lines; ball and bar on downthrown side of fault (after French 

and Schenk, 2004).

Figure 2. Stratigraphic column showing thrust repetitions in the Jurassic through Tertiary section 

in the Cuban fold and thrust belt in northern Cuba (modified from Cubapetroleo, 2002).

Figure 3. Sequential development of the northwest Cuban fold and thrust belt and the foreland 

associated with the fold belt. (A), proto-Caribbean synrift (Early to Middle Jurassic) development of 

rift basins; (B), post-rift subsidence; (C), end of Greater Antilles orogeny in early Eocene; (D), infilling of basin, which began as foreland in previous phase; (E), passive subsidence caused by sediment influx from Cuba (after Moretti and others, 2003b).

Figure 4. (A), Present-day distribution of postulated synrift Jurassic source rocks; original 

extent most likely was farther south prior to thrust shortening. (B), Present-day distribution 

of Upper Jurassic deep-water carbonate source rocks (shaded blue); original extent most 

likely was farther south overlying proto-Caribbean crust prior to thrust shortening in the Paleogene. (C), Present-day distribution of Lower Cretaceous deep-water carbonate source 

rocks (shaded green); original extent most likely was farther south prior to thrust shortening 

in the Paleogene. (D), Postulated present-day distribution of Cenomanian-Turonian source 

rocks (shaded orange); original extent most likely was farther south prior to thrust shortening in the Paleogene. Dashed lines reflect uncertainty of source-rock extent (from Moretti 

and others, 2003b). Contours are water depth, in meters.

Figure 5. Geologic model for assessment of undiscovered petroleum resources in the 

Jurassic-Cretaceous Composite Total Petroleum System (from Moretti and others, 2003b).

Figure 7. Oil and gas prospect map for northwestern Cuba, based on interpretation of seismic 

data (from Cubapetroleo, 2002).

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Figure 6. Two selected seismic sections showing general expression of the North Cuba Fold and 

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2003a). The foreland basin structures in Line 115 might have been inverted during the Paleogene 

compressional event.