Print this pageABSTRACT: Volga-Urals Basin, Bashkaria, RFR
EYER, J. A., University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, and V. PUCHKOV, Bashkirian Scientific Center, Ufa, USSR
The Volga-Urals basin is located on the west side of the Ural Mountains in Russia. It has been producing oil since the World War II period and was a highly prized source of energy during that period. The primary reservoirs have been Devonian and Carboniferous carbonates on the shelf of the basin. The basin is deepest and sediments thickest in the southeastern portion, which is known as the Uralian Foredeep. The foredeep portion is structurally complex and contains multiple thrust faults that affect the carbonates.
A unique situation in the history of the basin includes the occurrence of 5 to 10 km of Proterozoic sediments consisting of shales and sandstones that exhibit shows of oil and gas when drilled.
Most production in the basin to date has been on the shelf of the basin where the carbonates produce from reefs, bioherms, and fault-bounded structures along long NNE-SSW trends. Additional exploratory potential exists in a subsalt trend in the southeastern portion of the basin where these features are covered by an extrusive salt wedge extending from the Pricaspian basin to the south. Geophysical techniques are required in that area to define subsalt features.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)