Oil and gas perspectives of the Ordoviksky-Nizhnefransky mega-complex of the Pechorsk Sea shelf

Abstract

A fundamentally important result of offshore exploration is the identification of a new oilbearing region in the eastern part of the Pechomorsk shelf. Large oil fields have been discovered here: Prirazlomnoye, Varandey-more, Medynskoye-more, Dolginskoye. The explored reserves and resources of hydrocarbons (HC) suggest that in the near future a new oil-producing region will be formed on the shelf of the Pechora Sea. According to the State Balance, the total initial raw oil resources in the Pechora Sea are 3273.2 million tons. The main task of our work is the desire of the authors to draw attention to the problem of accelerating the pace of searches for promising objects on the shelf of the Pechora Sea and additional exploration of already discovered deposits in the Ordovician-Lower Fransk oil and gas megacomplex in the Varandey-Adzvinskaya structural zone (VASZ).

The prevailing disproportion between the plans for the development of the fuel and energy complex, its resource availability and the rate of replenishment of the hydrocarbon raw material base of the Pechora Sea shelf may turn into serious problems for the energy security of the country.

The further development of a large oil production cluster on the shelf of the Pechora Sea is primarily associated with the prospecting and development of hydrocarbon resources of the relatively deep-lying oil and gas bearing predominantly carbonate Ordovician-Lower Fransky megacomplex (MC) on the VASZ shelf and adjacent areas, especially at the Prirazlomnoye and Medynskoye-more fields.