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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

AAPG Special Volumes

Abstract


Memoir 106: Petroleum Systems of the Tethyan Region, 2014
Pages 59-100

Chapter 3: Petroleum Systems and Their Endowments in the Middle East and North Africa Portion of the Tethys

Thomas S. Ahlbrandt

Abstract

The petroleum endowment of the Tethys corresponds to the Middle East/North Africa region (Region 2) assessed by the USGS (2000). Data as of January 1, 1996, demonstrated this region to rank first in the world for oil and natural gas liquid known petroleum and second for natural gas. New natural gas discoveries in this region through 2012 have raised undiscovered natural gas estimates, particularly for offshore areas of the eastern Mediterranean (Nile Delta, Levant Basin) and Essaouira Basin. This paper emphasizes the total petroleum system (TPS) approach and discusses the global petroleum revolution we are now experiencing. Originally 18 provinces, 28 TPSs, which were subdivided into 46 assessment units (AU), were assessed in USGS (2000). In the last decade these assessed areas have grown to 21 provinces, 31 TPS, and 54 AU through 2012, as discussed here. In the USGS (2000) assessment, the Middle East/North Africa region contributed about 44% of the world’s known petroleum. With the addition of more than 400 TCF of natural gas and more than 10 BBNGL in the region in the last decade, principally in the eastern Mediterranean, this region is preeminent in terms of its endowment of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.


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