Geologists to assess oil and gas field holdings in the Russian Arctic
The assessment will be informed by data from electromagnetic probing.
1 December 2020Researchers at the Siberian Research Institute of Geology, Geophysics and Mineral Commodities will assess the prospective oil and gas holdings in different parts of the Russian Arctic using electromagnetic sounding data, the press office of the Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPGG SB RAS), announced on Tuesday.
'Novosibirsk researchers are working on a solution for a fundamental scientific problem associated with the expansion of the mineral commodity base in the Russian Arctic. The researchers will be working to identify and accurately describe the potential oil and gas-bearing strata, in order to eventually assess the oil and gas outlook for Arctic territories using the data retrieved by electromagnetic probes', says the newsletter.
The effort may be said to be as timely as they come as it envisages an incremental scope of research to assess the potential of Russian Arctic territories, including the coastal shelf and the islands. The current project will focus on the Khatanga-Vilui hydrocarbon-bearing region. A similar assessment was previously completed on the Troitsko-Mikhailovsky Swell in the Angara region. The collated data from EM sounding and drilling yielded an accurate assessment on two gas-bearing strata.
EM probing is a method of "seeing" through stratified bed formations with the aid of direct or alternating electric current. It measures electromagnetic field components at single or multiple points of the earth surface while consistently increasing the depth of electric current's penetration.
Researchers have recommended parametric appraisal wells for two areas. The EM prospecting method has recently helped to predict and identify areas with improved hydrocarbon-bearing potential in the Chunkinsko-Paimbinskaya zone.