AAPG GTW: Exploration and Production in the

Europe Region
Black Sea, Caucasus, and Caspian Region

18–19 SEPTEMBER 2019 | BATUMI, GEORGIA

 EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION CASE
STUDIES
Geo-challenges of studying and exploring the structure and petroleum potential of
the Odessa Gulf shelf
Kitchka, Alexander – kitchka@nng.com.ua – SE NaukaNaftogaz, Naftogaz Group

Tyschenko, Andrii - aptyshchenko@gmail.com – Inst. of Geology, Shevchenko National University of Kyiv & SE NaukaNaftogaz, Naf-
togaz Group

Ishchenko, Ihor – ishchenko@nng.com.ua – SE NaukaNaftogaz, Naftogaz Group

Shevchenko, Oleksandr – Shevchenko@nng.com.ua – SE NaukaNaftogaz, Naftogaz Group

The Krylov depression and Goubkin-Zmiyiny uplifted zone located in the Black Sea basin northwestern shelf known as the
Odessa Gulf is one of the highly promising areas for oil and gas and least studied with modern seismics and exploration
drilling at the same time. The area under investigation is characteristic of deeply dislocated the conjugation zone between
the slope of the Precambrian East European Craton and Kimmerian Scythian plate superimposed by younger sediments of
the Black Sea basin.

Recently, the Government of Ukraine has offered the Delfin E&P license permit for electronic bid round (under PSA model).
Geographically, Delfin license covers 9 536.41 sq.km of total area excluding two existing permits for Odessa and Bezimenne
gas fields under production and three license prospects as Kulisna, Riftova and Goubkina one. In terms of geology and the
least political risk this acreage available for drilling covers six different prospective zones / exploration trends, namely from
north to south:

• Transition onshore-offshore zone, with restricted accessibility due to shoreline environment and shoal waters;

• Marine continuation of the Dobrogean Foredeep to the Krylov depression till the Odessa transform fault, Lower
Paleozoic and Devonian to Carboniferous reservoirs sealed by Mesozoic unconformity;

• Prospects related to the North-Golitsyno frontal thrust step and related smaller forefront thrusts;

• Kilija-Zmiyiny uplift small N-Q prospects plus exploration targets in the weathered crust & fractured reservoirs of the
metamorphic Paleozoic basement;

• Goubkin Uplift southern slope (Histria trough northern flank) including Zonalna and Komsomolska North prospects;

• Potential НС traps related to the Neogene incised valleys (traversing the above zones).

Upon UkrSGPI estimation this aquatory is characterized by density of yet-to-find hydrocarbon reserves (of former C3+D1
resource categories) as much as 5-20 MTOE/sq.km. As to the geological and geophysical challenges to study and exploring
the Odessa Gulf shelf it is necessary to mention the key tasks as follow

1. Re-processing available seismic data (applying new processing algorithms including depth pre-stack migration,
etc.) existing only in time domain and adjust and spatially detail the velocity model for the set of vintage BS05 lines;

2. Harmonizing sequence stratigraphic model for the Ukraine - Romania transition offshore stratigraphic correlation;

3. Developing new depth model for this complicated horst-and-graben structural corner taking into account wrench
tectonic movements;

4. Tracing buried paleo-valleys and paleo-canyons over all vintage 2D datasets;

5. Taking into account the low GR contrast and apparent resistivity of the Pliocene reservoirs discovered in Romanian
waters resulting in uncertainty of gas-water contacts to re-analyze well-logging interpretation results for Ukrainian
wells.
Keywords: Odessa Gulf, license, seismic data, tectonic structure, reservoir, hydrocarbons

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