The Ionian-Crete Basin: Is this the Next Frontier?

Abstract

Over the past decade, the Eastern Mediterranean has been the prime focus of E & P Companies, mainly attributed to the giant discoveries of Zohr-Egypt, Glaucus-Cyprus and Levantine-Israel involving isolated Miocene-Cretaceous carbonate build-ups and Miocene-Pliocene deepwater clastics turbidite plays. A total of 13 Bboe of proven 2P reserves have been added since 2010. These plays are the focus of exploration. Being located in the center of these giant discoveries and the only remaining unexplored region in the Eastern Mediterranean, the frontier Ionian-Crete has recently attracted the attention of the Oil and Gas industry and concessions have been allocated to number of operators (Fig.1). This study is aimed to investigate the hydrocarbon potential of this basin utilizing an integrated play-based exploration approach. Triassic to Pliocene stratigraphic successions and associated thermogenic petroleum systems and plays have been evaluated and areas of high prospectivity have been identified. A crustal model was built to establish the basin geohistory and to understand the impact of crustal reconfiguration during the Hellenides Orogeny and its implications to the petroleum systems maturity.