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Brief history of the country
Honduras (the Republic of Honduras) is bordered by Guatemala (west), El Salvador and Nicaragua (south), and the Gulf of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea (north). It has a narrow Pacific coastline. Prior to 1580 the name Honduras was used for the east while Higueras was used for the west. It has also been called Guaymuras.
Honduras was populated by Mayans and other tribes prior to Columbus visiting in 1502. From 1524 it was progressively conquered (for silver), becoming Spanish Honduras and part of the Kingdom of Guatemala but the Mosquitia in the northeast resisted Spanish dominance with the support of the British.
Achieving independence from Spain in 1821 it joined the First Mexican Empire until 1823 and then the United Provinces of Central America Federation. In 1838 it reverted to an independent republic but was later involved in many attempts to restore central American unity.
In the early 20th Century US companies gained special rights to develop the banana industry from which the term ‘Banana republic’ originated.
Although the country has rich resources including minerals, coffee, fruit and sugar cane and a growing textiles industry, it has endured years of social strife and political instability and remains very poor.
Oil and gas summary
Honduras consists mainly of mountains with narrow plains along the coast. A large undeveloped lowland jungle, La Mosquitia, lies in the northeast.
A few wells have been drilled onshore within its limited sedimentary areas without success and similarly around 10 wells have been drilled offshore in the Caribbean Sea. The last offshore well was started in 1979.
Since 2009 companies have expressed interest in exploration, particularly in the Mosquitia and Patuca Basins. Contracts were delayed as a new hydrocarbon law was written but initial exploration activity was beginning in 2013 when the decline in the oil price delayed drilling of wells.
Despite the renewed interest, the country still has no identified indigenous oil or gas resources, either onshore or offshore. Globalshift believes it is very unlikely to achieve any commercial production onshore due late stage faulting and uplift.
Offshore, its deeper waters may have potential however, the country is unlikely to find and develop any significant reserves, at least in the short and medium term.
HONDURAS
Map and National Flag
CENTRAL AMERICA
Moving cattle
Central America
Capital
Population
Land area (sq kms)
Oil prod (000s b/d)
Gas prod (bcm/yr)
Oil cons (000s b/d)
Gas cons (bcm/yr)
Tegucigalpa
7.6 mm
112,492
None
None
65
None
Government
Honduras is a democratic republic with the President as head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Honduran government.
Legislative power is vested in the National Congress which has 128 members elected for a four-year term.
Responsibility for petroleum exploration and production rests with the General Directorate of Mines and Hydrocarbons (DGMH) which is part of the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Geology and History of Exploration
Honduras forms the central part of the Chortis continental block that includes southern Guatemala, El Salvador and most of Nicaragua. The Cocos Pacific Plate has been subducting under the south coast of Chortis from early Mesozoic time to the present whilst Caribbean ocean crust has been subducted under the north coast from the late Mesozoic.
Regional subsidence during the early Cretaceous was responsible for thick carbonate platforms in the central Yojoa Basin and the offshore northeastern Mosquitia Basin. Albian carbonates are the prime potential source rocks offshore.
Reservoir rocks may be fractured Albian limestones sealed by Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene shales. However, Neogene rifting associated with renewed plate movement has uplifted a large part of the Chortis block and probably breached most of the structures.
Globalshift believes that the Mosquitia and neighbouring Patuca Basins may still have potential offshore along the northeast coast. Here Tertiary sediments overlie two shelf areas with thick Albian carbonates.
Structures are present on seismic data and oil has been recovered from a limestone bed in the Main Cape-1 well drilled in 1973. Onshore, in the Caribbean coastal areas, oil and gas seeps have also been reported.
History - Although oil concessions were granted in Honduras as far back as 1916, exploration did not begin until 1957 when international companies began to conduct geological surveys, magnetic and gravity surveys and acquired modest amounts of seismic data.
Around 10 exploratory wells were drilled onshore up to 1966 followed by 10 wells offshore up to 1979. All were dry or had minor shows with the exception of the Main Cape-1 offshore well from which 15 bbls of oil were recovered. No offshore wells have been started since 1979.