Exploration in the Mura-Zala and Drava basins is increasingly limited by lithostratigraphic models that cannot resolve the complex, diachronous tectono-sedimentary evolution of the southwestern Pannonian Basin System. A new regional geology framework was constructed with seismo-geological interpretation using 45,500 km of 2D seismic, 7,300 km 2 of 3D seismic, and 300 wells across 20,000 km 2 in Croatia and Hungary. Gross depositional environment analysis, structural mapping, and clinothem-based stratigraphy were applied to identify major tectonic surfaces, megasequences, and sediment-routing systems. The results define three Neogene megasequences that capture the transition from syn-rift half-graben formation through early post-rift stable subsiding basins to post-rift thermal subsidence and the large-scale regression in Lake Pannon. The identification of 60 individual rift half-grabens provides a detailed structural template that explains the spatial variability of syn-rift/early post-rift accommodation and subsidence. Their distribution clarifies the segmentation of the extensional system, revealing discrete depocenters that governed sediment entry points, facies architecture, and early reservoir development. Fifteen post-rift clinothems were mapped, revealing systematic shifts in shelf-edge trajectories, sediment pathways, and depocenter migration. Basin wide structural surfaces including the rift onset unconformity, Middle Miocene inversion surface, and base Pannonian boundary were correlated consistently for the first time. The new tectono-sedimentological model will enhance prediction of reservoir, seal, and source-rock distribution and identifies remaining stratigraphic and subtle structural plays in a mature basin system.

The second Pannonian Super-Basin volume focuses on the geo-energy aspects in separate sections dedicated to geothermal energy, CCUS, hydrogen and natural gas storage and critical mineral exploration. The Pannonian Basin is the hottest sedimentary basin in mainland Europe, providing a useful template for geothermal exploration and utilization projects worldwide.

The first Pannonian Superbasin volume is dedicated to the regional geology of various Neogene extensional basins surrounded by the Alps, Carpathians and Dinarides. All these subbasins developed on highly extended continental crust, providing the locus typicus for the general evolution of extensional basins developed in a back-arc basin setting.

The late Neoproterozoic to Phanerozoic history of North Africa included six major tectonostratigraphic phases: (1) Pan-African basement terrane assembly and Infracambrian extension; (2) Cambrian to Carboniferous passive continental margin formation; (3) Late Carboniferous to Early Permian composite Hercynian orogenies; (4) post-Hercynian breakup of Pangea and opening of the Atlantic and Neotethys; (5) convergence and eventual collision of North Africa with Eurasia; and (6) Gulf of Aden—Red Sea rifting and the closing of Neotethys to form the Mediterranean basin. For most of the Phanerozoic, the terranes of North Africa and Arabia shared similar geodynamic histories, similar climates, and a common interaction with the Proto-, Paleo- and Neotethys oceans. The broad Paleozoic Paleotethys-facing margin received siliciclastic sediments from the Gondwanan hinterland, punctuated by glacial episodes in the Late Ordovician, Carboniferous and Early Permian. In the Carboniferous and Early Permian, multiple pulses of widespread, major tectonic uplift and erosion have become collectively known as the Hercynian orogeny. This tectonism was driven by the assembly of Pangaea and the final closure of Paleotethys. During the Mesozoic, new rifts and passive continental margins, dominated by alternating cycles of siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentation, developed in response to opening of the North Atlantic and Neotethys. Maximum sea levels in the Late Cretaceous produced extensive carbonate platforms and a shallow marine connection from Neotethys to the newly formed Atlantic Ocean. The Late Cretaceous also saw the end of the opening of the Neotethys and the onset of convergence between Eurasia and Gondwana. This resulted in compressional deformation across Gondwana and was coincident with the first phase of Neotethyan subduction and the complex Alpine orogenies. Pulses of contractional deformation continued in parts of North Africa until the Late Eocene and occur along the Mediterranean plate boundaries to the present-day. Oligocene eruption of the Afar plume marked the beginning of a new phase of continental rifting that opened first the Gulf of Aden, followed by the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez and then the Gulf of Aqaba. The Arabian plate separated from Africa and proceeded to collide with Eurasia, marking the end of the Neotethys.

Roughly 44% of the world's total known hydrocarbon resources are located in North Africa and the Middle East, from Algeria in the west to the Zagros region of Iran in the east. This includes more than 200 giant fields in the Middle East. North African basins, mainly in Algeria, Libya, and Egypt, contain 4% of the world's oil and gas reserves and nearly 40 giants. The most recent giant field resides in the offshore Levantine Basin. In this chapter, the region's geological history and petroleum systems are reviewed, including descriptions of the regional habitats and stratigraphy of the main reservoirs and source rocks. The Late Pre-Cambrian to Phanerozoic tectonostratigraphy is characterized by six major phases: (1) basement assembly and Infracambrian extension; (2) development of Cambrian to Carboniferous passive margins; (3) Late Carboniferous to Early Permian Hercynian orogeny; (4) post-Hercynian breakup of Gondwana; (5) collision with Eurasia; and (6) Red Sea rifting and the closing of Neotethys. For most of the Phanerozoic, the terranes of North Africa and Arabia were locked together at the northern rim of Gondwana. They shared a similar geodynamic history and generally similar climates. Their plate margins interacted over time with the water masses of three oceans: Proto-, Paleo-, and Neotethys. Throughout the Paleozoic, the region lay on a wide "ramp-like" passive margin facing northward toward Paleotethys. The main sediment source was the large hinterland to the south, with prevailing south to north and southeast to northwest-directed paleocurrents. Multiple marine transgressions across a low-relief continental platform were interrupted by at least four glacial events: Late Ordovician (Hirnantian), Silurian, Carboniferous, and Early Permian. Deposition of siliciclastics predominated throughout the Paleozoic whereas carbonates were much less common. The most important tectonic event was the mid-Carboniferous Hercynian composite-orogeny, which caused major uplift and erosion. The Hercynian represented the final closure of Paleotethys and produced many fault blocks and arches that would later host many of the major hydrocarbon accumulations of North Africa and eastern Arabia. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary sequence similarly consists of eustatically and tectonically controlled depositional cycles along the newly formed passive margin of Neotethys. Triassic to mid-Cretaceous facies along North Africa are almost everywhere shallow marine, nearshore, deltaic, and continental. Neotethys reached its maximum extent in the Late Cretaceous at which time carbonate sequences dominated. In addition to the Hercynian Orogeny, two other compressional events had major consequences on North Africa-Arabia petroleum systems. The closing of Neotethys began in the late Santonian (similar to 84 Ma) and the convergence between Eurasia and Africa-Arabia sent pulses of compressional deformation across the plate. This corresponded to the first phase of the complex Alpine orogenic cycle and caused folding, basin inversion, and strike-slip faulting along the African-Arabian Neotethyan margin (the "Syrian Arc"), and thrusting and ophiolite obduction in Oman. Compression was renewed at the end of the Maastrichtian and continued into the early Paleocene, followed by even stronger effects in the Late Eocene. Eruption of the Afar plume at about 31 Ma marked the beginning of a new phase of continental rifting that had dramatic effects on all aspects of the geology of the region. The Gulf of Aden ruptured first in the Early Oligocene, followed by the southern Red Sea in the Late Oligocene. At the Oligocene-Miocene transition, the remainder of the Red Sea north to the Gulf of Suez underwent a regional dike event and accompanying extensional faulting. Initiation of the Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea transform plate boundary occurred in the Middle Miocene, completing formation of the independent Arabian plate. The Neotethys Ocean also ceased to exist in the Middle Miocene following a collision between Eurasia and the Arabian plate to form the Bitlis-Zagros suture and fold belt. The Arabian plate was progressively tilted to the northeast as a result of both uplift and rifting of Arabia from Africa, and structural loading of the northeast margin by the Zagros fold belt. Recent tectonic activity is mainly concentrated along the Maghrebian Alpine Belt, the offshore Nile Delta, the Red Sea-East African (or "Afro-Arabian") Rifts Province, the Aqaba-Dead Sea-Bekaa sinistral strike-slip fault zone, and some major intra-plate fault zones including the Guinean-Nubian, Aswan, and central Sinai lineaments. Our review of the petroleum systems of North Africa and Arabia is brief and includes only highlights of the hydrocarbon occurrences found across this broad and complex region. Based on the age of source rocks, it is possible to distinguish an Infracambrian Petroleum System, Palaeozoic-related Petroleum Systems, and linked Mesozoic-Cenozoic Petroleum Systems. The sedimentary fill contains numerous source rocks, some of them with exceptional quality and regional distribution, such as the Silurian "hot shale". Producing reservoirs are found in both siliciclastics and carbonates. The proximity and juxtaposition of source rocks with thick reservoirs minimized the need for complex oil migration pathways, but also facilitated hydrocarbon expulsion and migration over long distances. Huge amounts of evaporites and shales are present, providing excellent lateral and ultimate top seals. Hydrocarbons are trapped in literally all stratigraphic units from the fractured Neoproterozoic basement to the youngest Pliocene-Quaternary sediments.

Deep exploration well Koraljka-1 in the central part of the Adriatic Sea was drilled through Neogene and Paleogene deposits and penetrated the Upper Cretaceous. In the interval from 2500 to 2230 m, the Cretaceous and Paleogene deposits consist of white to grey, mud-supported, fairly fossiliferous deeper-water, chalky limestone (wackestone-mudstone) with sporadic occurrences of chert, intercalated with bioclastic limestone packstone/rudstone to floatstone. Bioclastic limestone (calcarenite) intercalations, which yield platform-derived detritus, were redeposited seaward on the deep platform slope by a gravity mechanism. Lithostratigraphically, sedimentation was almost continuous across the Cretaceous - Tertiary boundary. The importance of these deposits and their stratigraphic interest is based on the fact that there is no on-shore equivalent of such deeper-water deposits in the Croatian part of the Outer Dinarids.In biostratigraphic terms, the K/T boundary is marked by significant changes in the microfossil assemblages (calcareous nannofossils, plankton and benthic foraminifera), which revealed that the hiatus at the boundary is minimal.

The procedure from petroleum exploration through field development 10 production activities in any region is undoubtedly a very expensive and risky business. Recent changes in the traditional organization of many oil and gas companies has been caused by several factors.

Abstract This paper describes the results of new stratigraphic correlations and petroleum systems analyses of the Triassic deposits in the Syrian Palmyrides. The correlations are based on well data and new palynological work which reconcile previous lithological and stratigraphic miscorrelations of Triassic sequences from this region. The sequences are subdivided into four Megacycles, which are directly related to the key elements of the petroleum systems of the Palmyrides. The hydrocarbon discoveries within these systems, the fluid contacts and hydrodynamics are explained with reference to the Megacycle subdivision. This subdivision is applied on a regional scale and is used to define the distribution of reservoir seal pairs for volumetric estimations.

Sedimentary basin fill of the Central Paratethys in Croatia consists of variable deposits. The oldest are the Egerian and Eggenburgian paralic and marine sediments that were determined only in the western marginal part of the studied area. The Neogene sedimentary sequence in major subsidences — the Sava and Drava Basins starts with Ottnangian–Karpatian transitional deposits that are covered by Badenian marine and Pannonian–Pontian brackish to freshwater formations. Pliocene and Quaternary terrestrial deposits cover major parts of the former depositional basins.Three stages of structural development of the SW Pannonian Basin are differentiated: initial structural changes between Oligocene and Early Miocene, main extensional processes that prevailed in Early and Middle Miocene and transpression during Pliocene and Quaternary. The newly formed structures are essential for hydrocarbon accumulation.The main source rocks are Lower to Middle Miocene marly limestones and limy marls. Hydrocarbon accumulations are found in the uplifted and fractured parts of the Neogene basement and in the Lower to Middle Miocene coarse-grained clastics, but the most important reservoir rocks are the Upper Miocene sandstones.

Three main stages in structural development of the SW Pannonian basin are differentiated: the onset of extensional tectonics between the Oligocene and the Early Miocene, main extensional processes in the Early and Middle Miocene and prevailing transpression in the Pliocene and Quaternary. The neotectonic phase is given special attention in this paper. Structural fabrics allow to subdivide the area into three large structural zones: corresponding to the Western, Southern and Central marginal part of the Pannonian basin in Croatia. These zones are bounded by important faults: the Periadriatic–Drava fault, the Medvednica fault zone and the southern marginal fault of the Pannonian basin. The recent displacements within the Dinarides and the Eastern Alps form the boundary conditions for active transpressional deformation in the Western marginal part of the Pannonian basin. Dextral transcurrent displacement is evident in the zone of the Periadriatic–Drava wrench fault. The formation of the new types of structures is observed, especially in zones of compression along the faults. Narrowing of the area between the Sava and Drava rivers causes structural changes in the marginal parts of the corresponding basins, i.e. in the areas close to the Slavonian Mts. Recent tectonic activity is marked by the occurrence of earthquakes which are most common in the northwestern part of Croatia. The spatial distribution of hypocentres and of seismotectonically active zones is used to reconstruct probable displacements and the structural style of deformation in depth. The earthquake sources in the vicinity of the Medvednica fault and the Periadriatic–Drava fault are given special attention.