Relationships between Gas Accumulation and Salt Diapirism in the Transylvanian Basin

The Transcarpathian gas-prone sub-basin of the Carpathian and Pannonian petroleum provinces embraces the territory of West Ukraine bordering with Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania, and the East Carpathians Mts. In terms of geology it is a depression of 20-48 km in width and 147 km in length. Only 3% of the region’s hydrocarbon potential are discovered to the date. Probable reserves of the basin are estimated at 112.3 Bcm of natural gas with specific density of probable reserves varying from 7-8 to 12-13 toe per 1 sq.km for different sedimentary complexes. Proven gas reserves of 4 discovered fields are 2.3 Bcm. According to exploration works there are more than 10 prospects and leads here with probable gas reserves of 23.5 Bcm that requires further seismic exploration and drilling. An economic advantage of this highly immature exploration area is a possibility to use abandoned wells drilled to the pre-Neogene basement as hot water producers to utilize hydrothermal energy and conversion of depleted fields into gas storages on the way of Russian gas to the West.