Currently reserve replacement is one of the key challenges in the oil industry. The discovery of a number of deposits confined to single Upper Devonian reefs indicates the need for a detailed study of such objects. In the article the North Kinel homocline is considered as the most potential area for this kind of deposits. Detailed research is complicated because of the area is underexplored by modern 3D seismic exploration, it covers only local areas, moreover the area is also unevenly explored by conventional 2D seismic survey. Insufficient knowledge makes necessary to continue geological exploration with forecasting the discovery of new oil reserves.
The article provides a detailed characteristic of the tectonics of the area under consideration, describes the model of sedimentation of the Upper Devonian formation, clarifies the lithological and stratigraphic features. Many local uplifts controlling deposits in the Carboniferous section are rootless and are absent in the underlying sediments of the terrigenous Devonian. Such uplifts are identified with the structures of differential compaction that formed over the Upper Devonian reefs. In the course of the work, a detailed analysis of the oil and gas potential of the reservoirs in the area under consideration was carried out, a description of their reservoir rocks and seals was given. The covers of reservoirs in the Famennian stage are developed everywhere, which indicates the prospects for these deposits. In the course of the performed analysis, the entire existing stock of wells that penetrated the Devonian formation was worked out. As a result of the assessment of well data, a research base was formed, which makes it possible to determine the priority areas of exploration. It is recommended to plan the top-priority areas of geological exploration relying primarily on 3D seismic exploration taking into account recently discovered deposits and fields in the northeastern and northeastern regions.
References
1. Nikitin Yu.I., Ostapenko S.V., Shcheglov V.B., New branch of activities pertaining to geological prospecting in Orenburg region (In Russ.), Geologiya, geofizika i razrabotka neftyanykh i gazovykh mestorozhdeniy, 2011, no. 11, pp. 13–18.
2. Sukharevich P.M. Kulakov A.I., Kovrizhkin V.S., Zakonomernosti razmeshcheniya i usloviya formirovaniya zalezhey nefti i gaza Volgo-Ural'skoy oblasti (Regularities of placement and conditions of formation of oil and gas deposits in the Volga-Ural region), Part VI. Orenburgskaya oblast' (Orenburg region), Proceedings of VNIGNI, Moscow: Nedra Publ., 1978, 216 p.
3. Geologicheskoe stroenie i neftegazonosnost' Orenburgskoy oblasti (Geological structure and oil and gas potential of the Orenburg region): edited by Panteleev A.S. et al., Orenburg: Orenburgskoe knizhnoe izdatel'stvo Publ., 1997, 272 p.
4. Konovalenko S.S., Paleogeomorfologiya yugo-vostoka Russkoy plity (Orenburgskaya oblast') ot rifeya do terne v svyazi s poiskami nefti i gaza (Paleogeomorphology of the southeastern Russian plate (Orenburg region) from Riphean to Terne in connection with prospecting for oil and gas), Part 1, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1990, 171 p.
5. Mirchink M.F. et al., Rify Uralo-Povolzh'ya, ikh rol' v zameshchenii zalezhey nefti i gaza i metodika poiskov (Reefs of the Ural-Volga region, their role in replacing oil and gas deposits and methods of prospecting), Moscow: Nedra Publ., 1974, 152 p.
6. Shakirov V.A., Vilesov A.P., Luzina L.A. et al., Geological specific features of the fluid seal in the carbonate thickness section of the Famenian stage in Orenburg region (In Russ.), Geologiya, geofizika i razrabotka neftyanykh i gazovykh mestorozhdeniy, 2018, no. 7, pp. 27–36.
7. Shakirov V.A., Miropol'tsev K.F., Vilesov A.P. et al., Forecast of seal rocks areal extent in Upper Devonian carbonates in Orenburg region (In Russ.), Neftyanaya provintsiya, 2018, no. 4, pp. 133–152.
8. Nikitin Yu.I., Vilesov A.P., Koryagin N.N., Oil-bearing Upper-Fransian reefs – a new direction of geological exploration in Orenburg region (In Russ.), Geologiya, geofizika i razrabotka neftyanykh i gazovykh mestorozhdeniy, 2018, no. 5, pp. 4–11.
