It is doubtful that large individual oil or gas fields exist in Armenia. Considering the convoluted geological history, it is much more likely that any existing fields will be small and tectonically complex. Many boreholes have been drilled in Armenia, mostly for research purposes, but virtually none with serious commercial intent.

Recent studies suggest that the two oil prospects, Shorakhpur and Nubarashen, east of Yerevan, contain potential recoverable reserves of 20 million barrels each. Over a ten year period, the two fields combined could produce 11,000 barrels of oil per day, which is about equal to the current daily consumption of petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, kerosene etc.) in Armenia. Other fields of similar size could exist, particularly northwards, towards the villages of Aramus and Fontan.

Serious exploration for oil and gas began in 1947. There have been two phases - the first, 1947-1974 (the first borehole, Avan-1 was drilled to 5,600 feet in 1948); the second, 1981-1990. During the first phase, 55 deep wells and 115 structural/mapping wells were drilled. Shows of hydrocarbons were encountered in a number of them. The Oktemberyan-13E well tested gas at rates of 1.54 million cubic feet per day, the flow continuing for six months.

The most significant result of the second phase was the recovery of about one cubic metre of oil from a Lower Eocene / Paleocene reservoir in Shorakhpur-1P. This was the first oil recovery of any significance in Armenia, albeit a small one.