Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous Reefs of Shatsky Ridge, Black Sea

The main oil and gas prospects of the Shatsky ridge are associated with large anticline structure: North-Black Sea one, Gudauta, Maria, etc. Some of the potential reservoirs are Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous reef buildups. About 4,500 sq.km of 3D seismic survey was shoot within certain potentially productive uplifts by “Rosneft” Oil Company during 2008-2011 time period. This study presents the major results of seismic interpretations of the structure and distribution of reef buildups. The performed study allowed to find out new prospective objects associated with probable reef buildups on the Shatsky ridge and clarify geological structure of previously revealed objects and condition of their formation. The results obtained were used by “Rosneft” Oil Company to design their geological exploration activities in their licenses on the Black Sea shelf.