Petroleum potential of Kurgan region

Abstract

The territory of Kurgan region is actually located within the boundaries of the West Siberian oil and gas province, where industrial reserves of hydrocarbons are discovered and actively developed within Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk regions. The article presents an assessment of petroleum potential of Kurgan region (a case study of deposits of Early Carboniferous age, zones of serpentinization of ultrabasic rocks, as well as the Upper Cretaceous Suprasenomanian complex of rocks). It would seem that Kurgan region today could conduct industrial development of fields, because it neighboures upon those regions in which hydrocarbon production is carried out. However, oil or gas deposits in this region have not been discovered yet, and the study of the subsurface is discrete and unsystematic. The uncertainty in the fate of Kurgan oil is a legacy of Soviet geology. It is likely that large hydrocarbon reserves will not be found in Kurgan region, but there are forecast resources, and they cannot be confirmed without a comprehensive study of the subsurface. The authors of the article try to understand why an oil or gas fountain has not clogged in Kurgan region yet.