Third EAGE Eastern Mediterranean Workshop

1-3 December 2021 | Larnaca, Cyprus & Online

Third EAGE Eastern Mediterranean Workshop

Date:	1-3 December 2021
Location:	Larnaca, Cyprus
Attendees:	60+
Organizer:	EAGE
Format:	Workshop

WORKSHOP BROCHURE

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 new exploration licenses and bidding rounds in offshore Greece and Lebanon, the area has become a very active petroleum province and global exploration hotspot.

The regions’ complex geodynamic history has seen it evolve from two extensional (Tethyan) passive continental margins to one dominated by Alpine collision, 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).

The subsequent influx of siliciclastic sediments due to the tilting of the African-Arabian shoulders and the initiation of Cenozoic (Tauride, Hellenide, Albanide, Apennine and Dinaride) fold-and-thrust systems during the late Oligocene to early Miocene giving birth to younger reservoirs. Subsequent marine isolation and evaporation led to the Messinian Salinity Crisis before rejuvenated clastic systems were restored in the Late Neogene in response to northward drainage off the African continent (Nile Delta), continued collision and a neotectonic overlay.

In an effort to unlock the petroleum resources below the Messinian salt layer, ambitious geological and geophysical exploration and drilling has taken place that seeks to identify unexplored prospects in offshore waters. Their identification will require further geological understanding and more technical development in geophysical imaging, rock mechanics and reservoir properties at important depths before proceeding to drill and safety.

More recently, attention has turned towards addressing the challenge of the energy transition, decarbonisation and meeting net zero emission targets. With a continued demand for oil and gas to meet energy needs, the role of local (indigenous supplies) that carry a lower carbon footprint becomes more important. In addition, evaluating and re-purposing the subsurface for alternative low-carbon use (e.g. through carbon storage, hydrogen production and storage, geothermal and wind power etc.) will have an increasing importance.

This workshop aims to further understand the complex regional geology, the development and evolution of structural styles, depositional systems and their implications for the prospectivity, and further potential of the Eastern Mediterranean.