The Caucasian Oil and Gas Province

ADAMIA, SH., K. AKHVLEDIANI, and A. CHABUKIANT, Geological Institute of Academy of Sciences of Georgia, Tiblisi, Georgia, USSR, and V. KILASONIA, Georgian Oil Company, Tiblis, Georgia, USSR

The Caucasus lies between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov on the west and the Caspian Sea on the east.

The main morphological elements of the Caucasus are the mountain ranges of Greater and Lesser Caucasus, which are divided by the Rioni (Colchis) and Kura intermontane troughs and the pre-Caucasian plain and Araks Depression.

The tectonic features of the region result from its position between the Eurasian and Africa-Arabian plates. Two tectonic units of the highest order are distinguished within its limits, the young Scythian platform in the north and the Alpine fold belt in the south.

Oil and gas deposits have been found only in the lowlands of the Caucasus, in the pre-Caucasian foreland, and within the Transcaucasian intermontane depressions.

The North Caucasian province is made up of the Scythian platform and the marginal troughs of the Alpine Greater Caucasus. Oil and gas accumulations occur at all levels within the sedimentary cover from Triassic to Neogene.

In the South Caspian oil and gas subprovince, oil and gas occurs within reservoirs range in age from Late Cretaceous to the Apsheronian stage of the Neogene.

The Black Sea subprovince comprises the northwestern part of the sea and the western part of Georgia. The bulk of the explored oil reserves lies within the Neogene and Upper Cretaceous units. The potential in this region is associated with Jurassic terrigenous, Upper Cretaceous carbonate, and Paleogene terrigenous sediments.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91007© 1991 AAPG International Conference, London, England, September 29-October 2, 1991 (2009)