PRIORITIES FOR NON-CONVENTIONAL HYDROCARBONS IN THE TERRITORIES OF TATARSTAN AND KAZAKHSTAN

The present communication deals with the integrated use of non-traditional hydrocarbon resources ? natural bitumen and heavy crude oils. On the territory of Tatarstan and Kazakhstan, a large part of the accumulations in the upper horizons of the sedimentary section belongs to the category of non-traditional resources with a high content of metals, especially vanadium and nickel, which in crude oils are associated with asphalt-resinous components. The authors studied the composition of these non-traditional sources of hydrocarbons raw materials ? heavy crude oils and natural bitumen, widespread on deposits of Tatarstan and Kazakhstan. Their characteristics are necessary for assessing merchantability of hydrocarbons, enriched by industrially significant but toxic metals. In the zone of hypergenesis, not only the physico-chemical properties of naphthides and their hydrocarbon composition undergo change, but also the concentrations of trace elements. Because of the loss of light fractions, the absolute concentrations of the elements bound to tar-asphaltene components (V, Ni, Co, Mo, Cr, Cu, etc.) in naphthides have considerably increased. Furthermore, the heteroatomic tar-asphaltene components of naphthides, which contact with low-mineralized stratal water in the zone of hypergenesis, are capable of sorbing trace elements with variable valence such as V, Fe, and U. The authors observed an increase in the absolute concentrations of trace elements in naphthides, as well as a change in the ratio between metal concentrations. The process characteristics of hypergenesis apply to petroleum from the oil fields of many regions. Attention is drawn to the need for an integrated approach to industrial and V-naphthides. The study suggests some modern methods of metal extraction.