U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3052

 June 2011 Printed on recycled paper

World Petroleum Resources Project

Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the 

Azov–Kuban Basin Province, Ukraine and Russia, 2010

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated technically 

recoverable, conventional, undiscovered oil and gas resources of 

the Azov–Kuban Basin Province in Ukraine and Russia as part 

of a program to estimate petroleum resources for priority basins 

around the world. The province encompasses about 161,000 square 

kilometers, northeast of the Black Sea (fig. 1). This assessment was 

based on published geologic information and on commercial data 

from oil and gas wells and fields, and field production records. The 

USGS approach is to define total petroleum systems and assessment units, and assess the potential for undiscovered oil and gas 

resources.

Total Petroleum Systems and Assessment Units

One total petroleum system (TPS), the Mesozoic–Cenozoic 

Composite, was defined for the Azov-Kuban Basin Province 

(table 1) to include petroleum source rocks ranging in age from 

Jurassic through lower Neogene. One assessment unit (AU) was 

defined geologically within the TPS that encompasses the entire 

province—Foredeep and Foreland Slope (figs. 1 and 2). A second 

AU possibly containing continuous accumulations, Foredeep Tight 

Gas, was identified based on an assumed overpressured section in 

the basin center, but was not quantitatively assessed in this study.

Major source rocks are mudstones within the middle–upper 

Eocene and Oligocene–lower Miocene stratigraphic section 

(Robinson and others, 1996). Potential source rocks include Lower 

Cretaceous and Lower to Middle Jurassic mudstones, and possibly 

Upper Jurassic subsalt black mudstones. Cenozoic source rocks at 

present are in the oil window; maturation was probably reached 

in late Miocene to Pliocene time when the greatest amount of 

sediment was deposited. Older source rocks at present are overmature in oil generation, having matured in the Late Cretaceous to 

Paleogene. Most known recoverable crude oil was discovered in 

Paleogene–Neogene reservoirs (down to a depth of 4,600 m) and 

most of the known recoverable natural gas was discovered in Cretaceous reservoirs (down to a depth of 6,100 m), although Cenozoic 

reservoirs also contain significant quantities of natural gas (IHS 

Energy, 2009). Seal rocks include Oligocene–Miocene mudstones, 

intraformational mudstones, and Upper Jurassic evaporites, as 

Figure 1. Generalized map showing 

major geologic features and structures, 

oil and gas fields, and the location of a 

geologic cross section (fig. 2) used in the 

assessment of the Azov-Kuban Basin 

Province. Field data from IHS Energy (2009); 

geologic province boundary from Persits 

and others (1998); structural features from 

Gajuk and others (2008), Khain and others 

(2005), Lavrenova and Kruglyakova (2010), 

Meisner and others (2009), Solov’yev and 

others (2010), and Yudin (2007). Explanation: 

1, geologic province and total petroleum 

system boundary; 2, boundary of structural 

domain; 3, scarp edge; 4, fault; 5, geologic 

cross section shown in fig. 2; 6, country 

boundary; 7, land; 8, water; 9, oil (green)/

gas (red) field centerpoint.

South Azov Step North Kuban

(Kopan-Irkliev) Depression

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

Donbas Basin

Ukrainian Shield

Great Caucasus Fold and Thrust Belt

North Azov

Depression Sea of Azov

Black Sea

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Indolo-Kuban Depression

East Kuban

Depression

Kerch-Taman Trough

Azov Swell

Russian Platform

 (Rostov Uplift)

Timashev Step

Stavropol

45° Arch

35° 40°

UKRAINE

RUSSIAN

FEDERATION

EXPLANATION

1

2

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6 ! ! 9

Azov-Kuban Basin

0 25 50 MILES

The U.S. Geological Survey, using a geology-based assessment methodology, estimated mean volumes of technically 

recoverable, conventional, undiscovered petroleum resources at 218 million barrels of crude oil, 4.1 trillion cubic feet of 

natural gas, and 94 million barrels of natural gas liquids for the Azov–Kuban Basin Province.
Figure 2. Geologic cross section for the Azov-Kuban Basin. 

See figure 1 for location. Modified from Gajuk and others (2008).

Table 1. Azov–Kuban Basin Province assessment results (technically recoverable, conventional undiscovered resources). 

[MMB, million barrels; BCF, billion cubic feet. Results shown are fully risked estimates. For gas fields, all liquids are included under the natural gas liquids 

(NGL) category. F95 denotes a 95-percent chance of at least the amount tabulated. Other fractiles are defined similarly. Fractiles are additive under the 

assumption of perfect positive correlation. TPS, total petroleum system; AU, assessment unit. Gray shading indicates not applicable]

Total undiscovered resources Total petroleum systems

(TPS)

and assessment units (AU)

Field

type

Oil (MMB) Gas (BCF) NGL (MMB)

F95 F50 F5 Mean F95 F50 F5 Mean F95 F50 F5 Mean

Mean (expected)

largest

field size

(MMB or BCF)

Gas

Oil Foredeep and Foreland

Slope AU

Azov–Kuban Basin Province, Mesozoic-Cenozoic Composite TPS

97 204 391 218 114 263 556 290 2 4 9 4

1,666 3,534 6,866 3,803 38 83 167 90

35

574

Total undiscovered 

petroleum resources 218 4,093 94

well as tar in shallow accumulations. Identified traps are formed 

by structures associated with (1) mud diapirs, (2) compressional 

structures (faults and anticlines), (3) basement-related anticlines, 

and (4) drapes over basement highs and inverted Triassic rifts. 

Jurassic and Cretaceous reef facies also provide traps.

The future potential for undiscovered conventional oil 

and gas accumulations is in structures associated with mud 

diapirs, deep (>3.5 km) compressional and basement-related 

structural traps, and stratigraphic traps, which previously have 

not been fully exploited. Potential stratigraphic traps include 

upper Paleogene–Neogene slope and basin gravity-flow deposits, upper Neogene fluvial deposits, and reefs and reef facies in 

Cretaceous–lower Paleogene and Upper Jurassic subsalt intervals. 

Offshore areas are less explored than onshore, and therefore have 

greater potential for undiscovered accumulations.

Assessment Results

Estimates of volumes of technically recoverable, conventional, and undiscovered oil and gas resources are shown in table 

1. No attempt was made to estimate economically recoverable 

resources because it is beyond the scope of this study. The mean 

volumes of undiscovered petroleum are approximately 218 million barrels (MMB) of crude oil, 4,093 billion cubic feet (BCF) of 

natural gas (290 BCF of associated and dissolved natural gas and 

3,803 BCF of nonassociated natural gas), and 94 MMB of natural 

gas liquids.

References Cited

Gajduk, V.V., Gubarev, M.V., Proshlyakov, S.L., Derduga, A.V., 

Lavrov, A.I., and Mollaev, Z.Kh., 2008, Perspektivy neftegazonosnosti shel’fa Azovskogo moray (Prospects of the Azov 

Sea shelf oil-and-gas content): Neftyanoye Khozyaystvo (Oil 

Industry), v. 6, p. 26–30. [In Russian.]

IHS Energy, 2009 [includes data current through October 2009], 

International exploration and production database: Englewood, 

Colo., IHS Energy.

Khain, V.E., Levin, L.E., and Polyakova, I.D., 2005, Petroleum 

potential of deep Oligocene–Miocene basins in southern Russia: Doklady Earth Sciences, v. 404, no. 7, p. 979–981.

Lavrenova, E., and Kruglyakova, M., 2010, Specific features of 

temporal and spatial distributions of light hydrocarbons in the 

Sea of Azov: Geo-Marine Letters, v. 30, p. 249–260.

Meisner, A., Krylov, O., and Nemčok, M., 2009, Development 

and structural architecture of the Eastern Black Sea: The 

Leading Edge, v. 28, no. 9, p. 1046–1055.

Persits, F.M., Ulmishek, G.F., and Steinshouer, D.W., 1998, Map 

showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of 

the Former Soviet Union: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 97–470E, CD–ROM.

Robinson, A.G., Rudat, J.H., Banks, C.J., and Wiles, R.L.F., 1996, 

Petroleum geology of the Black Sea: Marine and Petroleum 

Geology, v. 13, no. 2, p. 195–223.

Solov’yev, B.A., Levshunova, S.P., Podkorytov, N.G., and Yevsyukova, I.I., 2010, Perspektivy poiskov nefti i gaza v VostochnoKubanskoy vpadine (Prospect search for oil and gas in the 

Eastern Kuban Depression): Geologiya Nefti i Gaza, v. 2010, 

no. 1, p. 8–15, in Russian.

Yudin, V.V., 2007, Structural-geodynamic map of the Black and 

Caspian Seas region [abs.]: European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers Regional Meeting, Petroleum Geology and 

Hydrocarbon Potential of Caspian and Black Sea Regions, 6–8 

October 2008, Baku, Azerbaijan, Abstract A13.

For Further Information

Publications detailing the geology and the methodology for 

the Azov-Kuban Basin Province and assessment results are available at the USGS Central Energy Resources Science Center web 

site, http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/.

Azov–Kuban Basin Province Assessment Team

T.R. Klett (tklett@usgs.gov), Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald 

R. Charpentier, Michael E. Brownfield, Janet K. Pitman, Richard 

M. Pollastro, Troy A. Cook, and Marilyn E. Tennyson.

AZOV SWELL

2.0

3.0

4.0

1.0

5.0

6.0

0

7.0

8.0

SOUTH AZOV STEP INDOLO-KUBAN

DEPRESSION

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

0 5 10 MILES

EXPLANATION

Fault

S N

Kilometers (Datum Mean Sea Level)

A A'

Cretaceous

Paleozoic

Triassic

MAIN

AZOV

FAULT

Triassic-Jurassic

Oligocenelower Miocene

(Maykop Group)

Middle-upper

Miocene

Pliocene

PaleoceneEocene

Stratigraphic boundary

Scarp Edge