A new study indicates a possible explanation why the search for commercial quantities of petroleum to the north of Malta has proven unsuccessful.

The study, published in the journal Marine Geology, explains that “active fluid seepage” found underneath the seafloor between Malta and Sicily shows petroleum reservoirs may have been breached.

The study was carried out by Dr Aaron Micallef, Prof. Christian Berndt and Dr Godwin Debono, from the University of Malta and IFM-GEOMAR, an institute of marine sciences in Germany. They analysed geophysical data provided by Melita plc and TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company with funding by the University of Malta and IFM-GEOMAR.

“Marine geologists have discovered extensive, natural plumbing systems underneath the seafloor between Malta and Sicily, with implications for petroleum exploration and geohazard prediction in the area,” Dr Micallef said.

He said acoustic data were used to identify two types of fluid systems. These systems, known as fluid flow systems, cycle water, gas or petroleum between the earth’s interior, the ocean and the atmosphere.

The first type of fluid flow systems is shallow and consists of the seepage of recently formed methane gas. Dr Micallef further explained that the second type was probably formed by the leakage of petroleum from deep and old reservoirs via discontinuities in the rock.

Apart from the implication of breaches in the petroleum reservoirs, shallow gas is known to make the seafloor unstable and thus pose a potential hazard to coastal communities in the form of seafloor landslides and associated tsunamis, the study says.