New data on oil and gas potential of the Vychegda Trough

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of studying the petroleum potential of the underexplored territories of the European part of Russia, in particular, the Vychegda trough. Taken a new approach to assessing the hydrocarbon potential of the Vychegda trough, based on the allocation of petroleum systems, widely used abroad. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the geological structure of the deflection and geological-geochemical results, including those obtained by the authors, two potential petroleum systems – “domanic” and “riphean” – were identified. The potential domanic petroleum system dominates in the Eastern regions and is a peripheral fragment of the regional petroleum system covering the territory of the Volga-Ural and Timan-Pechora basins. The system is linked to development in the South-Eastern part of the trough and the neighbouring Solikamsk depression of bituminous domanic and domanicoid sediments as a source rock, which is confirmed by the genetic correlation of crude oils of Devonian-Carboniferous deposits of the Northern districts of Solikamsk depression with domanic biomarker. The stratigraphic range of the domanic system is upper Devonian-upper Permian; the formation time is late Devonian-Mesozoic. The potential Riphean hydrocarbon system can be identified by the fact of oil-bitumen occurrences in the Proterozoic strata and the presence of the productive source rocks in the upper Riphean. The source rocks were at oil window. The Riphean system can cover the entire territory of the Vychegda trough, and the section from the Riphean to upper Permian sediments. The time of the system formation – Riphean-Mesozoic. Due to large thickness of the Riphean sediments, even with a large loss of hydrocarbon potential, the residual potential hydrocarbon resources of the Riphean petroleum system can be very significant. Based on the research conducted, prioritized exploration studies are substantiated.