New methods of predicting and prospecting/exploration of hydrocarbon deposits to improve exploration performance in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province

Abstract

The Timan-Pechora oil and gas province remains rather promising for the discovery of new hydrocarbon fields and deposits, including large ones. However, in recent years, the efficiency of oil and gas prospecting and exploration has been rather low. At relatively high exploration maturity of prognostic oil resources (> 50%) and low exploration maturity of gas resources (about 30%), prospecting for new fields and deposits focuses on nonstandard geological conditions of their occurrence. This, in turn, requires the development of new methods and technologies for the development of such resources and the simulation of hydrocarbon systems and specific deposits, reflecting their non-standard occurrence and structure, thereby making prospecting more complicated. Therefore, the determination of rational methodological approaches to prediction, prospecting, and exploration of hydrocarbon deposits represents an urgent scientific and applied task.A comprehensive analysis of geological and geophysical characteristics of the promising targets based on the data of up-to-date seismic exploration and drilling ensures that complex traps are mapped by geophysical methods and prognostic resources and reserves of discovered deposits are estimated more precisely and confidently. Integration and analysis of geological and geophysical research materials using advanced methods and technologies can significantly expand oil and gas prospects and optimize the prospecting for productive traps and increase exploration efficiency by reducing the risk of unproductive wells.This paper presents and discusses the options for predicting oil and gas potential and provides recommendations for prospecting hydrocarbon deposits using up-to-date methods and technologies for interpreting geological and geophysical data. The research targets were terrigenous and carbonate natural reservoirs in the northeastern part of the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province, including the shelf of the Pechora Sea, Izhma- Pechora and Khoreiver Basins situated in different structural and tectonic zones. The analysis of extensive geological information has revealed that these areas exhibit all the necessary conditions for the existence of unique geological features and the potential for the discovery of oil and gas deposits therein.