Hydrocarbon Plays and Prospectivity of the Mediterranean Ridge

Abstract

The Mediterranean Ridge, the largest physiographic feature in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, is thought to be an accretionary complex, resulting from the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. The presence of a salt layer in the upper deforming sequence (Late Miocene evaporites) and the unusually great thickness of the incoming sediment column differentiate the Mediterranean Ridge from most other accretionary complexes. Mud volcanoes are present in this region while various lithotypes from Carboniferous to Pleistocene can act as potential source, reservoir, and seal rocks resulting to the recognition of several potential hydrocarbon plays.

Preliminary results based on geochemical sedimentary constraints on the hydrocarbon potential and depositional environment of a Messinian sub-salt mixed siliciclastic-carbonate succession onshore Crete (Plouti section, eastern Mediterranean)

“…Particularly for the study area, where the four ingredients of a good petroleum system namely source, reservoir, trap and seal (Fig. 9) appear to occur (Maravelis et al 2015b(Maravelis et al , 2016, it is recommended that the Greek authorities (Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change) proceed with additional extensive onshore geological studies and detailed offshore seismic surveys to explore the existence of hydrocarbons around Crete Island, where the sedimentary succession has been more deeply buried, experienced a higher thermal evolution, and therefore might have matured sufficiently to enter the oil 2006, Popov et al (2006), Antonarakou et al (2007), Brachert et al (2007, and Perrin and Bosellini (2013) generation zone. On this regard, remote sensing, seismic and wire-line log data, as well as cores and fluid samples from wells should be integrated to define the exact thickness and lateral extent of the possible seal, reservoir and source rocks, and the trap style.…”

“…Respecting the paleogeographic setting of Crete during the middle-late Miocene, characterized by local and regional factors (e.g., horst and graben stuctures, barrier effect and existence of restricted basins before the MSC, strong terrestrial influence with long distance transport of fine sediments and nutrients from the Nile, marine diagenesis; Fassoulas 2001;Antonarakou et al 2007Antonarakou et al , 2019Zachariasse et al 2011;Zelilidis et al 2016;Moissette et al 2018;Kontakiotis et al 2019), it can be assumed that similar constellations allowed the deposition of source rocks in several fore-arc basins between Crete and Mediterranean Ridge. However, strong lateral variations in the thickness of the salt layer in the upper deforming sequence (Late Miocene evaporites) between the western and the eastern foreland basins (Maravelis et al 2015b), along with the local presence of mud diapirism (volcanoes), the diverse trap styles (stratigraphic and structural traps; Pantopoulos et al 2013;Pantopoulos and Zelilidis, 2014), and the unusually great thickness and diverse character (various lithotypes) of the sedimentary infill differentiate the Mediterranean Ridge from most other accretionary complexes. All these very critical attributes can result to the recognition of several potential hydrocarbon plays in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.…”

“…Direct hydrocarbon evidence of thermogenic origin, such as active mud volcanoes, pock-marks, and pipenecks, which emit methane (gas) hydrates, have been also documented (Montadert and Nikolaides 2007;Lykousis et al 2009;Krois et al 2010;Pape et al 2010;Foscolos et al 2012;Bohrmann et al 2014;Bertoni et al 2017;Tamborrino et al 2019), thus enhancing the future prospectivity of the MR. Particularly, south of Crete, the existence of Olimpi, Prometheus, and United Nations mud volcano fields with many active mud volcanoes (Cita et al 1981;Camerlenghi et al 1992;Chaumillon et al 1996;Limonov et al 1996;Cronin et al 1997;Huguen et al 2004Huguen et al , 2006Loncke et al 2004;Haese et al 2006;Praeg et al 2007Praeg et al , 2011Maravelis et al 2015b) highlights the extent of Mediterranean gas hydrate areas (Fig. 1).…”

An Overview of the Petroleum Systems in the Ionian Zone, Onshore Nw Greece and Albania

“…1a) has been of long-standing interest to the academic community (e.g. Palakas et al, 1986;Roussos and Marnelis, 1995;Rigakis and Karakitsios, 1998;Karakitsios and Rigakis, 2007;Marnelis et al, 2007;Mavromatidis and Kelessidis, 2009;Maravelis et al, 2014aMaravelis et al, , 2015, and also to the petroleum industry (e.g. W. Chellis, 1940;Pan-Israel, 1957;ESSO, 1960ESSO, -1963BP, 1960BP, -1963An-Car oil, 1969;AGIP, 1980AGIP, -1981Enterpise Oil andTriton, 1997-2001) (YPEKA, 2015).…”

The floral study and the observed vegetational changes during miocene regarding the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Messara-Gavdos area in Crete

“…2.2). Its complex structure has been strongly affected by the Alpine orogenic processes in the Eastern Mediterranean, due to the convergence of Eurasian and African plates and the subduction of the Tethyan oceanic crust (BONNEAU, 1984;LISTER et al, 1984;MOUNTRAKIS et al, 2006;RING et al, 2010;MARAVELIS et al, 2015).…”