ERC 2017 - Hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean: Revisiting Mature Plays and Understanding New and Emerging Ideas - brought together experts in the area who shared their experiences and understanding of the petroleum systems in the region, and new ideas to overcome the challenges that are still present to unlock further hydrocarbon potential.

The Mediterranean Sea is a vast area with a long geological history composed of different sedimentary basins and different tectonic settings. Despite geological complexities, several very large hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in clastic and carbonate reservoirs that span in age from Triassic to Pleistocene. Recently in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea impressive gas discoveries have been made: Tamar (2009), Leviathan (2010), Aphrodite (2011) and, most recently, Zohr (2015). Overall, the exploration activity has been intermittent and often focused in very limited portions of the basin. A large part of the Mediterranean is underexplored and the use of new seismic acquisition and drilling technologies together with recent discoveries in new plays have revitalised interest in the entire area.

Themes of the two day presentations included:

• Tectonic Evolution of the Mediterranean
• Stratigraphy and Reservoir Characterisation
• Petroleum Systems
• Next Exploration frontiers
• Geophysical Methods and Technologies
• Drilling in the deep water and deep targets

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