Hydrocarbon potential of sedimentary cover of the Golyginsky basin (Kamchatka)

Abstract

The Golyginsky sedimentary basin (hereafter, GSB) located in the southeastern Kamchatka Peninsula opens in the west and southwest toward the Sea of Okhotsk, where the sedimentary cover is forming (Fig. 1). The basin is of great significance as a region with hydrocarbon resources and, consequently, is part of the strategic interests of Russia in the Far East. In the onshore part, the sedimentary succession of the GSB is studied in rock outcrops along its periphery and cores recovered by boreholes. The detailed lithological–petrological characteristic of sediments in the GSB is presented in [1]. The sedimentary cover is 5–6 km thick in the offshore part of the basin. It comprises three regional seismostratigraphic complexes [2]. They are correlated with stratigraphic units defined in the general Kamchatka section [3]. Previous researchers noted the elevated content of volcanogenic material as compared with other areas of western Kamchatka. The study of the lithology of rocks and their petrophysical characteristics made it possible to define potential source and reservoir formations. Geochemical studies that would allow estimation of the hydrocarbon (HC) potential of rocks in this region are virtually absent. The current assumptions of the petroleum potential of the GSB are based on geodynamic concepts and paleogeographic reconstructions that make it possible to assess the petroleum geology of the GSB, as well as the composition and structure of its sedimentary section. In our previous estimates of the HC potential of this basin [2], we used characteristics of sediments from other areas.