Historical and geochemical outlines of the oil-gas seepage near Turzovka town; Flysch belt, NW Slovakia

Small oil deposits located in Korňa near the town of Turzovka in north-western Slovakia and other small deposits located in the Miková region of northern-eastern Slovakia were the first oil deposits discovered and exploited in these parts of the Western Carpathians. Small volumes of oil, natural gas and water rises to the surface on a northern slope in Korňa and several tenths of metres further on these descends into the soil cover and entered the local Kornianka creek. Korňa and its broader surrounds are geologically part of the Magura Nappe of the Carpathian Flysch Belt. The preliminary gas chromatography results indicate weakly biodegraded mature oil with a prevailing aliphatic hydrocarbon fraction. Weak biodegradation and continuous outflow over 100 years following its discovery in 1901 indicate its connection with a deeper oil reservoir. Although methane is the dominant component of this natural gas, the presence of higher gaseous hydrocarbons with the methane carbon isotopic composition indicates a methane gas associated with the main stage of oil generation.