Eastern Mediterranean Gas Exploration

A number of recent giant gas discoveries offshore Levant and in the Nile Delta have established the eastern Mediterranean as a major hydrocarbon province. Future exploration success will rely heavily on a detailed understanding of the regional tectono- stratigraphic evolution of the basin. Critical inputs to reservoir, charge and trap modelling such as rifting age, rifting direction and the distribution of oceanic versus continental crust are poorly constrained. Additionally, the impact on the petroleum system of the sudden and significant drop in Mediterranean sea level during the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Late Miocene, has been largely overlooked.

In the Late Miocene, the Mediterranean region experienced rapid and dramatic palaeo- environmental changes linked to the so-called “Messinian Salinity Crisis”. Restricted communication with the Atlantic Ocean led to a gradual increase in water salinity, which was followed by a dramatic fall in sea level and deposition of an evaporite layer that was up to ca. 2 km thick in the deep basin centre. The MSC is considered as one of the most phenomenal natural examples of relatively rapid unloading and loading of the Earth’s crust, related to the rapid removal of sea-water, loading by evaporites, and re-loading by seawater. However, the impact of the MSC on the geodynamic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Basin, and the role it played in shaping the present-day distribution of hydrocarbons in the region, has been overlooked.

As a consultant for the Eastern Mediterranean Exploration activities, INJAZ UPS can offer the following:

• A wealth of data including a series of interpreted maps from top basement to the sea bed.
• Share info on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the basin based on the analysis of regional seismic and well data.
• Advise on how the MSC can have a direct impact on any exploration campaign.
• Carry out petroleum system modelling that specifically takes the MSC into account.

Give a proper evaluation for the recent gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean (Zohr, Aphrodite, Leviathan, Tamar, Glafcos and Calypso) in terms of comparing the plays’ type and predicting the potential locations for similar plays based on our understanding of the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the basin.