The Black Sea, the Latest New Exploration Frontiers in Europe: Preliminary Results of an Escape Tectonics

Abstract

OBJECTIVE / SCOPE The Black Sea is a Mesozoic-Cenozoic closed sea system representing one of the last few exploration frontiers in the vicinity of the European market. The overall prospectivity of the basin and associated regional prospective trends have been delineated using the integrated Play-Based Exploration approach. The tectonic evolution, basin formation, sedimentary infilling history, petroleum systems, and sedimentary plays have been investigated to search for new hydrocarbon potential in the basin. METHODS, PROCEDURES, PROCESS The seismic interpretation and mapping were based on 26 sparse 2D seismic lines (ION SPAN), which were acquired and processed in 2011-2012 by ION GTX. The multi-client data from offshore Russia, Crimea, and Ukraine were excluded due to geopolitical sanction. The seismic interpretation which was completed in the depth domain (PSDM depth) was calibrated using three Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) wells namely Sites 379, 380, and 381 (Fig. 1) which penetrated only the shallower section namely the Top Miocene and Top Pliocene. However, the seismic markers where lacking well penetration were primarily interpreted based on seismic stratigraphy. Interpretation of the acoustic basement as well as crustal types were supplemented with gravity and magnetic data from Getech Globe’s database. Three key seismic lines (Fig. 1) were then selected to illustrate the overall basin geomorphology, structural evolution, and to subsequently identify play potential within the basins. The structural analysis was integrated with the seismic sequence stratigraphic analysis to understand the sedimentation history, depositional trends, kinematic evolution, and tectonic history.