Sediment
Transport Pathways and Provenance; Identification of Reservoir-Quality
Sandstones in the Caspian-Black Sea Region
Vincent, Stephen J.1, Andrew
C. Morton2, Fiona Hyden3, Clare E. Davies4,
Irene Gómez-Pérez5, Mark B. Allen6 (1) University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (2) HM Research Associates, West Midlands,
United Kingdom (3) Oil Quest Ltd, Bedford, United Kingdom (4) Woodside Energy
Limited, Perth, Australia (5) Repsol Exploracion, 48026 Madrid, Spain (6) University of Durham,
Durham, United Kingdom
The hydrocarbon basins of the Caspian-Black Sea region are in varying
stages of exploration and development. The South Caspian has proven reserves
with an active extraction programme, while the Eastern Black Sea and Central Caspian contain plays that are
being tested. Despite their varying maturity, reservoir presence and quality
remain critical exploration risks. In the South Caspian Basin, petrographically
mature sandstones derived from the Russian Platform form the producing
reservoirs. Yet even in this relatively mature basin more data are required to
understand the complex interplay between this system and more locally sourced, lesser quality sand systems that prove to be
uneconomic. Greater uncertainty exists still in the Central Caspian and Eastern Black Sea basins as to whether
Russian Platform sourced depositional systems exist and whether they form
economic targets. This paper documents how the use of field-based sedimentology,
and petrographic and heavy mineral sandstone
provenance analysis can be used to identify potential reservoir-quality
depositional systems in the Caspian-Black Sea region and thus reduce
some of the uncertainties in the exploration of this region.