Regional seismic interpretation of the hydrocarbon prospectivity of offshore Syria

Abstract

Analysis of 5,000 km of multi-client long-offset 2-D seismic data has led to the identification of three sedimentary basins, Levantine, Cyprus, and Latakia, located in offshore Syria. Each basin has a unique structural and stratigraphic history. They are separated from each other by the middle to Late Cretaceous aged Latakia Ridge System that initiated as a compressional fold-thrust belt and was re-activated under a sinistral strike-slip regime that developed during the Early Pliocene in response to a re-organisation of the plate-tectonic stresses. There is significant evidence for a working petroleum system in offshore Syria with numerous onshore oil and gas shows, DHIs (direct hydrocarbon indicators) observed on seismic, and oil seeps identified from satellite imagery. Prospective reservoirs range in age from Triassic to Pliocene – Quaternary and include Lower Miocene deep-water turbidite sands as encountered in recent discoveries in the offshore southern Levantine Basin. The complex structural evolution of each of the three sedimentary basins has produced an array of potential structural and stratigraphic trapping mechanisms.