In the context of growing energy demand, the need to find new conventional hydrocarbon resources and the need to emancipate from the monopoly of some countries holding such resources, the opportunity to approach unconventional hydrocarbon production seems to be crucial. The boom of unconventional hydrocarbons production started with the improvement of the technology that involves the drilling of horizontal wells with the hydraulic fracturing of particularly compact clay formations has been a major success in the United States of America.
The trend to extrapolate the advanced technology in America to other countries, there are particularities of approach, and specific conditions that differentiate Europe, implicitly Romania, from North America. To illustrate the particularities of the approach of unconventional hydrocarbons production, the paper presents some aspects regarding to the procedures necessary for the exploration, development and production of shale gas in Romania.
The paper includes assessment methodologies, characteristics of the stages of exploration, development, production and concepts of risk management which should have been assumed by the concessions agreements. Presentation of the exploration phase, with a explanation of the role of the seismic prospection and exploration well drilling is detailed, adding the implications of the need to fulfilling the minimum exploration program; the assessment parameters and their possible determinations in the cores, well diagraphies, seismic sections, sophisticated data processing are explained.
Starting from the geological setting (stratigraphy and tectonics) of the Moesian Platform which is succinctly presented, the litostratigraphy of the Dobrogea sector of this unit (East Moesia) is detailed. The presentation of the geochemical parameters of some Paleozoic formations and the assessment of some Paleozoic formations from the point of view of their unconventional hydrocarbon potential, underlying the approach evoked by the minimal exploration program for the assessment of the shale gas perspectives in South Dobrogea.
In the paper there are underlines inappropriate comparison and approach of the shale gas exploration between concessions in Europe (Romania) versus the United States of America.