Petroleum Systems of the LevantNeil Hodgson

Eastern Mediterranean: What’s with the Perception?

SecurityIssues

Security Issues

Only Deep Expensive Gas left

Poor Well Results

Commercial Issues

Game Changer in the Levant

Zohr Discovery

South Levantine Basin: Gas Basin?

Dalit2009 Gas DiscoveryLower Miocene SandsReserves: Mean 0.5 TCF

Dolphin2011 Gas discovery ‘Tamar’ sands Reserves: Mean ca  0.5 TCF

Aphrodite2011 Gas Discovery310ft net pay Miocene sandsReserves: Mean 7 TCF 

Leviathan 2010 Gas Discovery220ft net payLower Miocene sandsReserves: Mean 17 TCF. *Reported deeper thermogenicgas zone at 21,000ft

Tanin2011 Gas Discovery,130ft net pay Lower Miocene ‘Tamar’ sands. Reserves: Mean 1.1 TCF

Shimsom 2012  Gas DiscoveryReserves: Mean 1 TCF. 

MC 3D

Tamar2009 Gas Discovery 2012 onstream460ft net Mid‐ Lower Miocene sands Reserves Mean 9 TCF

So what do we know about the Levant Basin?

1. Biogenic Gas Play in deepwater2. Locally derived reservoir of poor quality3. Complex, strike-slip structures.

All suggesting difficult reservoirs, gas, hard to develop and long lead time to production.

I don’t think any of the above is true

Early Miocene Reservoir thickening to the northLine length 220 km

Levant Ramp

1. RESERVOIR:  

After Robertson 1998

Paleo ‐ Reconstruction

Cretaceous: Tethys open to east

Nile River Drains into “Niger” Delta

Eocene Restricted Late Miocene Closed

Nile Delta Establishing

Open Sea way

Open Sea way

Sand Provenance

After Peace, Petex Nov

2012

Reservoir

Nile: ProgradingDeltaic Packages

Eastern Levant: Pinch out onto Basin margin

Northern Levant:Basin Floor Depocenter

Southern Levant:Deep Marine Clastic Transport systems

LevantRamp

290 km 2D lineTamar

Block 550Km

Block 6

260Km

Geometry of Basin System E. Miocene

SW NE

Early Miocene sand input from Arabian Plate? 

Afiq canyon insising into Early MioceneIe post-dating Early Miocene sand influxTherefore not the source for Early Miocene sandsThat fill the northern Levant basin

Zohr Seismic / GeoseismicE MIOC NILE ISN’T FLOWING NORTH…

Orange= top Early MioceneYellow = base Early Miocene

Isochore (TWT interval) Map of the Early Miocene

Tannin

Top Early Miocene Sands

W E

W

E

Sand falls into the N Levant Basin…

Does Any Sand NOT fall into the N Levant Basin…

Amathusa-1Very thin interval block 9:

Thick sand in Block 5 lebanon

Top SandE Mioc

ENE – WSW line along strike N LEVANT Basin

0 4 8 km

“TopLangian”

TopEarly Miocene Sand

TOP LOWER MIOCENEStructures 400m Relief

LOWER MIOCENE SANDSCa 1000m thick

Deepening Basin into Lebanon: More chance of Oil

Charge

Oligocene source: biogenic gas offshore Israel, Zohr, Yet, N Levant more deeply buired.

Line length 220 km

3D Basin Modelling: South to North Levant2: Charge

Source Rocks

1. Miocene2. Oligocene3. Eocene4. Campanian5. Cenomanian6. Early Cretaceous7. Jurassic8. Triassic

Independent basin modelling & seeps

High Potential for Oil, Biogenic and Thermogenic Gas ? Southern Levant Basin, 15C/km

Levant Basin, 25oC/km

South Levantine Basin: All biogenic Gas?

Dalit2009 Gas DiscoveryLower Miocene SandsReserves: Mean 0.5 TCF

Dolphin2011 Gas discovery ‘Tamar’ sands Reserves: Mean ca  0.5 TCF

Aphrodite2011 Gas Discovery310ft net pay Miocene sandsReserves: Mean 7 TCF 

Leviathan 2010 Gas Discovery220ft net payLower Miocene sandsReserves: Mean 17 TCF. *Reported deeper thermogenicgas zone at 21,000ft

Tanin2011 Gas Discovery,130ft net pay Lower Miocene ‘Tamar’ sands. Reserves: Mean 1.1 TCF

Shimsom 2012  Gas DiscoveryReserves: Mean 1 TCF. 

MC 3D

Tamar2009 Gas Discovery 2012 onstream460ft net Mid‐ Lower Miocene sands Reserves Mean 9 TCF

Karish2013 Gas Discovery180ft net Lower Miocene sands Reserves mean 2‐3 TCF

EM 0046West-east

EM 007South-North

Early Miocene strongly pinching out onto in Margin

KarishKarish

Karish Well

Early Miocene pinch out: this is a stratigraphic play!

NoE MioSands

Playfairway comparison

Offshore nearer to shore but still very deep water:Cretaceous and Jurassic carbonate Play-fairways Southern Levant and North Sinai.

Early and Late MiocenePlayfairwaysProven in Tamar, Leviathan, Dolphin,Tannin, Dalit, AphroditeShimson, Karish, Mari B, Noa, Gaza Marine, Or , Nir.

IEOC’s line published a few years ago over zohr

Zohr ?Biogenic Gas

Line on edge of Zohr discovery

WSW ENE

Zohr Discovery

Egypt

CyprusIsrael

Lagoonal Facies?

Oligo-Miocene

CretaceousReefs

Messinian Evaporites

10kms

(100kms2 )30TCF

SSE NNW

Zohr Look Alike ?

20kms

(+500 km2)

North of Zohr

Eratosthenes Sea Mount W E

Northern Levant BasinHerodotus Basin Early Miocene

NW SE

Crustal Model

Oceanic Attenuated Crust

ESE

NE of Zohr

WSW

Total block 11Total block 10

2011 PSTM

Zohr Look‐alikes Ringing the Seamount 

Structures In South Lebanon3: Structure

Extensional structures SW Lebanon far less complex than compressional structures S Levant

Line length 220 km

2D regional Line

15kmRef: Noble Website

Both Images are at identical scales

W-E Hyperion

10km

Structures North and South Levant Basin

Phoebe

Leviathan

Structures North Levant Basin

After Kosi, Tari, Nader, Skiple, Trudgill and Lazar, 2012

Eos

Oceanus

Hyperion

PhoebeTethys

Croes

Leto

Theia

Prometheus

Helios

Atlas

Themis

Mnemosyne

Cronus 

Selene

Epimetheus

AstraeusCalypso

Rhea

Crius

Iapetus

Aster

Perses

Southern half‐ block 5

Phoebe Structure, Mapped at Top Langian

Crest  5180m, Spill    5460m, 280m relief, 40 sqkm Area

2 to 7 TCF potential

PHOEBE; Resource Estimate

7.5 km

TWT Depth

N Levant Concluding Q & A 

Q. More than a biogenic gas play to chase in N. Levant Basin? 

A. Yes! North Levant is an Oil and Gas Basin.

Q. Levant’s thickest Reservoirs offshore Israel?

A. No! E. Miocene N. Levant 3‐5 times thicker. 

Q. Are the best structures in South Lebanon?

A. Yes! N Levant has bigger and less complex structure than Offshore Israel

Eastern Mediterranean: Keeps on Giving

50TCF50TCF

>100TCF50TCF