Implication of satellite images in studying potential hydrocarbon resources in the licence Blocks 9 and 11, the exclusive economic zones of Egypt and Cyprus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24028/gzh.0203-3100.v40i1.2018.124010Keywords:
Nile Fan, Levant Basin, satellite images decoding, discoveries classification, hydrocarbons originAbstract
A frequency-resonance technology was used for processing and decoding the satellite images of the licence Blocks 9 and 11 in the Eastern Mediterranean. The anomalies of “oil and gas” type were revealed in the study area. The supergiant Zohr gas field produces the prominent anomaly covering the largest area of 251 km2. This anomaly evidences for the channels for vertical migration of deep hydrocarbon-bearing fluids and the horizontal gradient in reservoir pressure. For the first time, these two specific findings were suggested to be indicators of a commercial discovery. Based on them, several “oil and gas” type anomalies were recommended for exploration drilling in the Blocks 9 and 11. Available information cannot allow us to consider the Onisiforos discovery as a commercial gas field. The siliciclastic and carbonate plays are equally workable in the Egyptian, Cypriot and Israeli EEZs where in the Miocene sediments abiogenic methane is the main component of gas which ascends to reservoirs from deeper layers. Selecting an optimal drilling location requires an interdisciplinary approach.
References
Atoll Gas Field, North Damietta Offshore Concession, East Nile Delta. www.offshore-technology. com/.../atoll-gas-field-north-damietta-offshore-concession-... 30 June 2016.
Al-Balushi A., Neumaier M., Fraser A., Jackson C., 2016. The impact of the Messinian Salinity Crisis on the petroleum system of the Eastern Mediterranean: a critical assessment using 2D-petroleum system modelling. Petroleum Geoscience 22, 357—379. https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2016-054.
Alfieri M., 2015. The discovery and development of the Zohr gas field in Egypt | Eniday. https://www.eniday.com/en/human_en/discovery-development-gas-zohr.
Bembel R. M., Megeria V. M., Bembel S. R., 2003. Geosolitons: the functional system of the Earth, conception, exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon fields. Tyumen, Vector Buk, 224 p. (in Russian).
BP Statistical Review of World Energy, June 2017. https://www.bp.com/.../bp/.../energy.../statistical-review-2017/bp-statistical-review-of-wo.
Conophagos E., Lygeros N., Foskolos A., 2016. Target reserve 5 times greater than ZOHR within the Cypriot EEZ. https://www.cyprusgasnews.com/target-reserve-5times-quater-Zohr/.
Conofagos E., Fokianou T., 2017. “Zohr” Supergiant Biogenic Gas Field Discovery & Its Importance for Greece. www.academia.edu/.../_Zohr_Supergiant_Biogenic_Cas_Discovery.
Di Cuia R., 2017. East Mediterranean: the new frontier opens. http://www.researchgate.net/.../316109903_EAST_MEDITERRANAEN_THE_NEW_F.
Dolson J., 2016. Understanding Oil and Gas Shows and Seals in the Search for Hydrocarbons. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Int. Publ., 486 p.
Ellinas C., Roberts J., Tzimitras H., 2016. Hydrocarbon developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. Washington DC Atlantic Council. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/hydrocarbon-developments-in-the-eastern-mediterranean.
Eppelbaum L., Katz Y., 2011. Tectonic-Geophysical Mapping of Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean: Implications for Hydrocarbon Prospecting. Positioning 2(1), 36—54. doi:10.4236/pos.2011.21004.
Erestime P., Hewitt A., Hodgson N., 2016. Zohr — a newborn carbonate play in the Levantine Basin, East-Mediterranean. First Break 34, 87—93.
Gardosh M., 2016. The Levant Basin — A World-Class Hydrocarbon Province in the SE Mediterranean Sea. http://www.energy-sea.gov.il/English-Site/PublishingImages/Pages/Forms/EditForm/RoadshowPresentationDr.MichaelGardosh_LevantBasinHCPotential.pdf.
Goliat Field Trip, 2015. https://www.eni.com/docs/it_IT/enipedia/informazioni.../2015/goliat-final-website.
Hanstelberg D. B., 2014. Reconstruction of Tectonic Paleo-Heat Flow for the Levantine Basin (Eastern Mediterranean). Implications for Basin and Petroleum System Modelling. Master of Science Thesis, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. 84 p.
Hantshel T., Kauerauf A., 2009. Fundamentals of Basin and Petroleum Systems Modeling. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Verlag, 476 p.
Hedvig P., 1975. Experimental Quantum Chemistry. New York—London: Academic Press, 534 p.
Kashefi K., Lovley D. R., 2003. Extending the upper temperature for life. Science 301(5635), 934. doi: 10.1126/science.1086823.
Kendrick J. W., Hood A., Castano J. R., 1978. Petroleum-generating potential of sediments from the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. Vol. XLII Part 2, Washington (U.S. Government Printing Office), 729—735.
Kirschbaum M. A., Schenk C. J., Charpentier R. R., Klett T. R., Brownfield M. E., Pitman J. K., Cook T. A., Tennyson M. E., 2010. Assessment of undiscove-red oil and gas resources of the Nile Delta Province, Eastern Mediterranean. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS 2010—3027. 4 p. http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/.
Levashov S. P., Yakymchuk N. A., Korchagin I. N., 2011. Assessment of relative value of the reservoir pressure of fluids: results of the experiments and prospects of practical applications. Geoinformatika 2, 19—35 (in Russian).
Levashov S. P., Yakymchuk N. A., Korchagin I. N., 2012. Frequency-resonance principle, mobile geoelectric technology: a new paradigm of Geophysical Investigation. Geofizicheskiy zhurnal 34(4), 167—176 (in Russian).
Levashov S. P., Yakymchuk N. A., Korchagin I. N., Bozhezha D. N., 2015. Operative assessment of hydrocarbon potential of Zohr prospect in the Mediterranean Sea (Shorouk block, Egypt offshore) by the frequency-resonance method of the remote sensing data processing and interpretation. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2917.9360.
Levashov S. P., Yakymchuk N. A., Korchagin I. N. et al., 2017a. Application of mobile and direct-prospecting technology of remote sensing data frequency-resonance processing for the vertical channels of deep fluids migration detection. NCGT Journal 5(1), 48—91.
Levashov S., Yakymchuk N., Korchagin I., 2017b. On the Possibility of Using Mobile and Direct-Prospecting Geophysical Technologies to Assess the Prospects of Oil-Gas Content in Deep Horizons. In: Oil and Gas Exploration: Methods and Application. Eds S. Gaci, O. Hachay. American Geophysical Union. P. 209—236.
Levashov S. P., Yakymchuk N. A., Korchagin I. N., Bozhezha D. N., 2017ñ. Preliminary results of the oil and gas potential estimation in area of “Onisiforos West-1” Well drilling in Mediterranean Sea (block 11 on the Cyprus offshore). Geology of seas and oceans. Proc. of XXII Int. Conf. on Marine Geology, Moscow, November 20—24, 2017. Vol. II, P. 201—205.
Lie Ř., Trayfoot M., 2009. Seismic Characterization of the First 3D Surveys Offshore Cyprus and Lebanon. Search and Discovery Article #10194. http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/pdfz/documents/2009/10194lie/images/lie.pdf.html.
Mastalerz V., de Lange G.-J., Dählmann A., Feseker T., 2007. Active venting at the Isis mud volcano, offshore Egypt: Origin and migration of hydrocarbons. Chemical Geology 246(1-2), 87—106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.09.005.
Marlow L., 2014. Tectonostratigraphic History and Petroleum Potential of the Levantine Basin, Eastern Mediterranean. AAPG Memoir 106: Petroleum Systems of the Tethyan Region. P. 279—299.
Norman J. H., 2014. Dictionary of petroleum exploration, drilling & production. Tulsa: Pen Well corporation, 769 p.
Paraskova T., 2017. Onisiphoros gas field not commercially viable. http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/New-Gas-Discovery-Offshore-Cyprus-Not-Commercially-Viable.html.
Peck J. M., Horscroft P., 2005. “Bottom-up” analysis identifies eastern Mediterranean Prospects. www.offshore-mag.com/.../lsquobottom-uprsquo-analysis-identifies-eastern-mediterra.
Pedrosa-Pámies, R., Parinos C., Sanchez-Vidal A., Gogou A., Calafat A., Canals M., Bouloubassi I., Lampadariou N., 2015. Composition and sources of sedimentary organic matter in the deep eastern Mediterranean Sea. Biogeosciences 12, 7379—7402. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-7379-2015.
Petrova A. A., Petrishchev M. S., 2011. Fluid systems of the Mediterranean. Vestnik KRAUNTS. Nauki o Zemle 17(1), 23—33 (in Russian).
Petzet A., 2012. Noble halts Leviathan deepening in gas formation. Oil & Gas Journal. http://www.ogi.com/articles/2012/05/noble-halts-leviathan-deepening-in-gas-formation.html.
Schenk C. J., Kirschbaum M. A., Charpentier R. R., Klett T. R., Brownfield M. E., Pitman J. K., Cook T. A., Tennyson M. E., 2010. Assessment of Undiscove-red Oil and Gas Resources of the Levant Basin Province, Eastern Mediterranean, U. S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, 2010—3014, 4 p.
Shuman V. N., 2007. Electromagnetic signals of the lithospheric origin in the modern ground and remote sensing. Geofizicheskiy zhurnal 29(1), 42—48 (In Russian).
Stolper D. A., Lawson M., Davis C. L. et al., 2014. Formation temperatures of thermogenic and biogenic methane. Science 6191:1500-1503. Technical Report. 2012. Block 9, Shorouk offshore. www.egas.com.eg/BidRound2012/block009.pdf.
Technical Report. Block-9 Shorouk offshore — EGAS. www.egas.com.eg/BidRound2012/block009.pdf 2012.
Vandré C., Cramer B., Gerling P., Winsemann J., 2007. Natural gas formation in the western Nile Delta (Eastern Mediterranean): thermogenic versus microbial mechanisms. Org Geochem 38(4), 523—539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem. 2006.12.006.
Younes M. A.-A., 2015. Natural Gas Geochemistry in the Offshore Nile Delta, Egypt. In: Advances in Petrochemicals, P. 27—40. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/60575.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
