Potential For Replacement of Oil and Gas Reserves in the European Part of Russia
A substantial part of original oil and gas resources of most petroleum basins in the European part of Russia have been explored. The highest degree of exploration maturity is in the Volga-Ural province where 68 percent of estimated original resources have been discovered. About 63 percent of estimated original resources have been discovered in both the North Caucasus and Baltic provinces and 40 percent have been discovered in the Timan-Pechora province.
A retrospective analysis of changes in the exploration maturity (as measured in percent of original oil resources being discovered) with increasing volume of deep drilling shows that beginning from a certain stage of exploration further increase of drilling meterage either does not result in increase of exploration maturity (North Caucasus) or this increase is insignificant (Volga-Urals, Timan-Pechora). This analysis indicates that the potential of traditional exploration plays in these provinces is actually exhausted and new areas and plays that have not been adequately studied should be involved in exploration. It is also possible that original petroleum resources of some provinces (e.g. North Caucasus) are overestimated and should be reassessed.
The analysis of the petroleum resource base in the European part of Russia shows that the most important regions for discovery of new oil and gas fields, including large fields, are: (1) the Pricaspian petroleum basin where new geologic data on its western margin indicate the existence of large undiscovered oil and gas resources; (2) the Cis-Ural foredeep that includes the Solikamsk, Belsk, Yuryuzan-Sylva, Verkhnepechora, Bolshesyna, and Kosyu-Rogov depressions and the adjacent Ural thrust-fold belt; and (3) the Timan-Pechora province in which large new reserves were discovered in Ordovician to Devonian rocks; the same rocks contain the principal undiscovered oil resources.
The total undiscovered resources of the discussed regions are estimated at more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Russia: Exploration Challenges in Increasingly Mature Basins and Frontiers
AAPG & AAPG European Region Energy Conference and Exhibition (November 18-21, 2007) Technical Program