Achimov Regional Model as a Business Tool for Forming a Portfolio of New Options for Geological Exploration in Western Siberia

Abstract

The resource base of Western Siberia needs to be replenished to maintain the current development indicators. The reserves associated with the classic structural traps were diagnosed and mapped for the main horizons in Western Siberia. Replenishment of the resource base at the expense of such reserves is ineffective due to the fact that undiscovered traps of these types are thin, or lie at great depths, which ultimately negatively affects the quality of the resource base and the economic efficiency of their involvement in development. The driver of the growth and replenishment of the resource base under current conditions is the Achimov deposits, which are ubiquitous in this area at depths of 2500–3500 m and are genetically deep-water deposits of fans. The advantage of involving these deposits in development is often associated with the confinement to existing assets, where production is carried out from above and below-lying geological objects, the complexity is associated with the lithological type of traps, which is not diagnosed by direct analysis of seismic materials, as well as the extremely poor knowledge of the deposits over the area. Considering that the variability of properties over the area is a distinctive feature of Achimov deposits, the factor of poor knowledge by drilling significantly complicates the understanding of the potential of the deposits. In order to identify and assess the most promising areas for involvement in the development of the Achimov deposits, in PJSC Gazprom Neft the work “Regional assessment and zonal study of the prospects for oil and gas potential of the Achimov formation in the Western Siberia” was carried out. The goal and objectives is to form a reliable tool for searching and forecasting potential options using the generated regional maps of criteria (various characteristic properties and their combinations) built on the basis of data generalization throughout Western Siberia.