Hydrocarbon Plays in the Southern European Alpine Foreland

Alastair Beach

Developments in understanding plate-tectonic evolution in the western Mediterranean significantly affect the hydrocarbon potential of the Alpine foreland of southern Europe. Southern France provides a type area; the hydrocarbon potential of the foreland basin is strongly influenced by the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic history prior to the Alpine orogeny. The Aquitaine basin in the west is a successful hydrocarbon province, while in southeastern France limited exploration has proved disappointing, even though a wide variety of untested hydrocarbon plays are present. Three major plate-tectonic events have affected the area. The implications for the regional tectonic development, structural style, and hydrocarbon habitat are discussed.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.