Hydrocarbon potential and prospects for exploration of Eastern Arctic oil and gas deposits

Abstract

Conditions for the formation of hydrocarbon systems and prospects for searching for accumulations of oil and gas in the waters of the Eastern Arctic are considered. Significant hydrocarbon potential is predicted in the sedimentary basins of this region. All known manifestations of oil hydrocarbons are installed on land adjacent to the south, as well as on the east of the shelf. The East Arctic waters are included in a single model in order to perform an adequate comparative analysis of the evolution of hydrocarbon systems. The purpose of the research was to build space-time digital models of sedimentary basins and hydrocarbon systems, and to quantify the volume of generation, migration, and accumulation of hydrocarbons for the main horizons of source rocks. To achieve this goal, a spatiotemporal numerical basin simulation was carried out, based on which the distribution of probable hydrocarbon systems was determined and further analyzed. Following to the data obtained the most probable HC accumulation zones and types of fluids contained in potential traps were predicted. Keywords: numerical space-time basin modeling; modeling of hydrocarbon systems; evidence of oil and gas presence; Eastern Arctic; elements of hydrocarbon systems; oil and gas reservoirs; migration; accumulation; perspective objects