Basins Analysis and Petroleum Systems Modeling of Western Black Sea, Ukrainian Sector

Abstract

The Ukrainian sector of the Western Black Sea (WBS) is one of the last remaining exploration frontiers in Europe. This area, which includes shelf to deepwater environments, is underexplored with no drilling of targets in water depths exceeding 100 meters. That is why, the Ukrainian sector of the WBS is attractive for exploration, especially in the context of new play types and targets such as biogenic gas. These hydrocarbon formations have been proven by neighboring Romania and Turkey in the areas adjacent to Ukrainian waters. Therefore, a rigorous Basin Analysis program has been initiated to assess the petroleum systems and play risks in the entire Ukrainian sector of the WBS. The goals of this program are: 1) to establish a regional geoscience foundation following best industrial practices in exploration; 2) to enable establishing more accurate risking and ranking procedures for an exploration portfolio and 3) to provide critical support for the analysis of a new generation of seismic data that is currently being acquired. In this paper the initial scope of work is presented.