MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES OF DIRECT PROSPECTING FOR OIL AND GAS: FEASIBILITY OF THEIR ADDITIONAL APPLICATION IN SELECTING SITES OF WELL DRILLING

Purpose. The purpose of the paper is to study the possibility of using the direct FSPEF and VERS geoelectric methods and technology of frequency-resonance processing of remote sensing data for the operative assessment of the petroleum potential of individual structures and exploratory blocks in order to select the optimal sites for exploratory well drilling. Applying these mobile methods, we surveyed prospecting areas and blocks, as well as some hydrocarbon deposits in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, England, and on the offshore of South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago were. Within the surveyed area the wells were drilled. Design/methodology/approach. Experimental studies were conducted with the mobile technology of remote sensing data frequency-resonance processing and interpretation and geoelectric methods of forming the short-pulsed electromagnetic field (FSPEF) and vertical electric-resonance sounding (VERS). These techniques are “direct” methods for oil and gas prospecting and they work in the “substantial” paradigm of geophysical research. Technologies and techniques developed on the principles of this paradigm are directed for a particular (desired in each case) substance searching ? oil, gas condensate, gold, zinc, uranium, etc. Findings. Results of monitoring for the wells drilling for gas in tight sands (DDB) have shown that the Belyaevskaya-400 well was not drilled to productive horizons, and the Novomechebilovskaya-100 well is located at the edge of the mapped anomalous zone. Commercial gas inflows were not obtained in these wells. Research on the Zahatsor area demonstrated that theprojected wells are located in non-optimal locations. The drilling results confirm the prediction. Three dry wells on the Trinidad and Tobago offshore do not fall into the contours of the mapped anomalies. The projected well on the gas field (offshore South Africa) was moved into the contour of the nearest detected anomaly. The drilled productive well in the south of England falls into the contours of one anomaly, mapped on the search area, and two dry wells are located in the anomaly-free zone. The results of processing of satellite image of Obolonskaya structure were compared with the integrated model built on a complex of geological, geophysical and geochemical data. Practical value/implications. Anomalous zones discovered by direct prospecting methods can be considered as projections into the surface of hydrocarbon accumulations contours in the cross-section. This information can be used for an approximate estimate of hydrocarbon resources within the surveyed areas and structures. The results of these studies indicate the feasibility of applying direct prospecting technologies application to determine the optimum sites for exploratory wells drilling. The two-fold increase of success of well drilling could in general terms result in a significant acceleration and optimization of the prospecting process for oil and gas.