Stratigraphic Trapping Leading to Success on Both Sides of the Atlantic: Lessons from Guyana-Suriname and Namibia

Summary The continental margins of Guyana-Suriname and Namibia have been the locus of major exploration successes in recent years. The giant Stabroek accumulations as well as their neighboring Suriname discoveries primarily consist of Cretaceous slope and base of slope turbidite fans, as in Namibia (e.g., Venus). On both sides of the Atlantic, the quest for efficient stratigraphic trapping was one of the key reasons for success. Here we leverage the recent knowledge acquired by TotalEnergies offshore Suriname and Namibia to examine the configuration and building mechanisms of contrasting styles of stratigraphic traps in those deep-water settings. The Guyana-Suriname and Namibian margins are both associated with relatively steep, stepped slope profiles. These are key for stratigraphic trap development. However, in both systems trapping is not only produced by by-pass and abrupt sand pinch out at the breaks in slope, but also favored by partial erosion from overlying MTDs (or younger fairways) focused along such knickpoints. Mass-wasting processes appear as critical trapping elements along both margins. Their abundance in the late Cretaceous strata of both margins is to be linked with changing accommodation vs sediment supply rates along the paleo shelf margins, and changes in continental slope heights and steepness.