The Adriatic Sea - New Potential in a Proven Exploration Province

Peace, Dave G.¹
(1)Exploration, East Mediterranean Exploration Company Ltd, Upton Grey, United Kingdom.

Italy has been one of the most active and pioneering countries in Europe for exploration for Oil and Gas since around 1950. Go back about 20-30 years and it would be fair to say that the offshore Adriatic Sea was a very active exploration region, particularly in Zone A of the Italian side in the north of the Adriatic region. In 1987 there were some 332 exploration permits in effect, but by 2007 this had shrunk to only 90, in similar vein in 1987 there were 19 offshore exploration wells drilled which had dwindled to just the one in 2007, with a similar decline in production wells in the same period from 41 in 1987 to 12 in 2007*

Also over the last decade the main focus of exploration has largely changed from the shallower very successful Pliocene gas plays to the deeper Mesozoic oil plays.

In 1994 peak gas production was at a level of 20.6 billion Sm³ or 751 bcf of which about 75% was from offshore Italy with 53% of that coming from Zone A. Current demand for gas is around 70+ billion Sm³/year and forecast to rise to around 95 billion Sm³ this year…so Italy faces a huge shortfall in gas supply which has been augmented by huge imports of gas typically from North Africa.

Italy has a very high demand for gas itself which is increasing year by year, and a significant pipeline infrastructure. It is close to the huge European market as well and fiscal terms and conditions for new exploration are among some of the best in the world. Many plays have been proven within Pliocene to Miocene, water depths are shallow and hence development & production costs are low as well…so it should be all to play for and we would reasonably expect a high level of exploration activity in the region.

So what has happened ?......why has exploration declined so much, and is this a good time to maybe revisit the area ?

This presentation will outline the regional geology and structure of the Adriatic Sea, show examples of past discoveries, discuss the various play types that are present and proven in the Adriatic and suggest some reasons why now could be a good time to be going back to the region.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.