Hard-to-recover, high quality oils in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of the physico-chemical properties of hard-to-recover, high quality oils in the Russian sector of the Arctic. In view of the insufficient knowledge of the properties and conditions occurrence of hard-to-recover, high-quality oils in the Russian Arctic, the new results provided in the article on the properties of such oils determine the scientific novelty of the work. The main aim of the study is to study the physico-chemical properties and occurrence conditions of hard-to-recover, high quality oil in the Arctic zone of Russia based on information from the global database on the physico-chemical properties of oils. Based on the quality index and generalised petroleum classification proposed by the authors, a large collection of nearly 3,000 samples of hard-to-recover high-quality oils from the fields of the Russian Arctic was analysed. The features of the physico-chemical properties of hard-to-recover high-quality oils have been studied. It has been shown that hard-to-recover, high quality oil is generally of light or medium density, has medium or high viscosity and, as a rule, is impoverished by petroleum gas, sulphur and heavy metals. It is established that the content of resins and asphaltenes is minimal in the oil of the West Siberian basin and the maximum in the oil of the Leno-Tungusskiy basin. The results of the research are of great practical interest and can be used in developing new and improving existing methods and technologies for oil production, transport and processing of hard-to-recover high-quality oils from the localities of the Russian Arctic.