4th EAGE Eastern Mediterranean Workshop (EAGE-EMW)

Exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean has been reignited by important gas discoveries during the last decade. With finds in the Offshore of Egypt, Cyprus and the Levant Basin and promising ongoing exploration programs in offshore Greece and Lebanon, the area has become a very active petroleum province and a global exploration hotspot. The gas discoveries and prospects in this area are even more important given the energy security concerns, as well as the key role of natural gas as the bridge fuel during the energy transition.

The region’s complex geodynamic history evolved from two extensional (Tethyan) passive continental margins to one dominated by Alpine collision, with mountain building and neotectonic subduction-accretion along its northern flank. Rifting was initiated in the Permo-Triassic, continued through the Mesozoic and was characterized by the development of a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate platform attached to the African, Arabian and Eurasian plates as well as the formation of isolated carbonate outer-high platforms located on continental blocks (e.g., Eratosthenes, Ionian Sea and around Apulia). These carbonate platforms (reefs, slopes, calciturbidites etc.) offer attractive exploration targets for the industry.