Assessment of Oil and Gas Prospecting Gydanskaya Bay (Kara sea) on the Base Innovative Technology of Geochemical Survey

Gennady I. Ivanov¹, Mikhail Shkatov¹, and Andrey Goncharov^2
1Northern State Scientific-Production Companyof Marine Geological Prospecting (State Company "SEVMORGEO"), St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
²SBIE-2 Ltd, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.

Integrated innovative technology allowing to forecast oil and gas bearing zones in shallow waters and to identify their tectonic structures has been developed by “Sevmorgeo” State Company jointly with Open Stock Company “Specialized Bureau of Independent Examinations-2”.

The technology consists of the following research methods: gas geochemistry, bitumen content testing, mercurial metering, hydro chemistry, lithologic and mineralogic analyses. Sampling locations are corrected by the data of highly accurate shallow seismic survey. Innovative elements of the technology include vacuum disintegrator for gas sample extraction, extraction and determination of indicating (aureole) mercury and also peculiar methods of statistic processing and interpretation of different geologic and geochemical information aimed to zonal and local forecast of oil and gas bearing strata. Use of vacuum disintegrator ensures more deep extraction of gas-phase (2-4 times more for methane, 7-19 times more for methane gomologs, 2-3 times more for helium) making the results of research much more reliable.

The targets to be reached by means of this technology include tracing of direct signs of oil and gas content, identification of oil and gas prospective areas, differentiate assessment of second order structures. This technology can be reliably used in extremely shallow transition zones of 0-10m deep, and in coastal lakes and rivers.

The technology has been fully realized during the survey in the Gydan and Yuratskaya Bays in the framework of state governed project. Four oil and gas prospective areas have been reliably outlined by the survey (400 sampling locations) - Yuribey-Ladertoysky, Oleninsky, Gydan-Yuratsky and Priyavaisky. Within the tectonic structures of second order the following prospective areas have been identified: Yuribeyskaya, Yuratskaya, Severo-Yavaiskaya, Oleninskaya and Severo-Oleninskaya.

The given technology can be characterized as a cost-saving method of the offshore geological prospecting aimed to effectuate petroleum survey and more exact definition of tectonic structure of the shelf zones.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90130©2011 3P Arctic, The Polar Petroleum Potential Conference & Exhibition, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 30 August-2 September, 2011.