Prioritization of areas for pilot testing of development technologies for hard-to-recover reserves of the Khadum formation in the Eastern Ciscaucasia

UDK: 553.9821

DOI: 10.24887/0028-2448-2025-10-18-23

Key words: Eastern Ciscaucasia, Khadum formation, hard-to-recover reserves, geochemical properties, well testing, hard-to-recover reserves development

Authors: A.G. Krotova (Lomonosov Moscow State University, RF, Moscow); I.V. Shpurov (State Comission on Mineral Resources, RF, Moscow); K.S. Kharchenko (Oil and Gas Research Center of Lomonosov Moscow State University LLC, RF, Moscow)

In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in attention to hard-to-recover reserves. From the perspective of developing hard-to-recover reserves in unconventional deposits, particular interest is focused on the Khadum formation in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, which is the least studied, compared to the Bazhenov and Domanik productive deposits. The Khadum formation represents the main prospects for reserve growth and production increase. The formation attracts significant industrial interest among subsoil users. In order to stimulate the search for new approaches to the development of hard-to-recover reserves, the Khadum deposits are included in the list of objects for which a separate type of licensing is proposed - technological testing grounds for the search, testing and implementation of various development methods. Identifying the most promising areas for establishing such testing grounds is a crucial task in the industry. The study is based on geochemical research data and field well testing results. Through analytical and statistical processing of geochemical research data and core description information, the rocks were differentiated into two types with different hydrocarbon potential. Based on the test results, the potential productivity of the identified geochemical and lithological types was evaluated. Rocks of the second geochemical type were classified as industrially more promising objects. The most promising development interval was correlated with the lower part of the reservoir. A comprehensive approach was proposed for identifying the most promising zones for conducting pilot industrial operations.

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