oa The Levantine Basin - Prospectivity in a Frontier Basin

The prolific Nile Delta to the south is an active petroleum province, but exploration activity in the deep<br>water Levantine Basin offshore Cyprus, Israel and Lebanon has been limited. However, the recent deep<br>water subsalt gas discoveries offshore Israel, the announced 2nd licensing round offshore Cyprus in<br>2009 and the planned 1st licensing round offshore Lebanon has spurred a significant increase in<br>industry interest in the area.<br>The Levantine Basin is bound to the east by the Levantine margin, to the north by the Latakia Ridge<br>and to the west by the Erastosthenes Seamount and is interpreted as a Mesozoic transform rift graben.<br>Our interpretation and the Tamar discovery indicate that much of the pre-Messinian sedimentary<br>package in the Levantine probably consists of Oligocene to Miocene successions, rather than the Early<br>Cretaceous/Senonian successions suggested previously.