Lower Permian Carbonate Buildups in the Northern Timan–Pechora Basin as the Main Hydrocarbon Exploration Object

• Published in: Lithology and Mineral Resources Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 245 - 260
• Main Authors: Zhemchugova, V. A., Evdokimov, N. V., Poort, J., Akhmanov, G. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V; MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica
• Subjects: Algae; Carbonates; Computational fluid dynamics; Distribution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fluid flow; Hydrocarbons; Hydrodynamics; Landforms; Lithofacies; Microorganisms; Mineral Resources; Mineralogy; Morphology; Mounds; Natural gas; Ocean floor; Oil and gas industries; Oil and gas industry; Oil exploration; P-waves; Palaeoecology; Paleoecology; Permian; Properties; Reservoirs; Sciences of the Universe; Sea level; Sea level changes; Sedimentary basins; Sedimentation; Sedimentology; Seismic data; Seismic surveys; Seismic waves; Surveying; Timan–Pechora petroliferous basin; microbial and skeletal mounds; reservoirs; carbonate buildups; Lower Permian
• ISSN: 0024-4902; 1608-3229; 1573-8892
• DOI: 10.1134/S0024490220040069

Organogenic buildups named as carbonate mounds are widespread in Lower Permian deposits in the northern Timan–Pechora basin and are of great interest to the oil-and-gas industry as natural hydrocarbon reservoirs. Their distribution and textural features were controlled by seabed morphology, sea level changes, and specific paleoecology of the Early Permian period. In contrast to classic reefs, these buildups were not able to form large accumulative landforms that changed the hydrodynamics and paleogeography of sedimentary basins. The results of this study allowed us to divide the Lower Permian carbonate buildups into two types: (1) skeletal mounds formed primarily by algae and Palaeoaplysina communities; (2) microbial mounds composed of microbial assemblages. Identification of these mounds based on seismic data usually does not meet any difficulties. However, their texture, peculiarities of reservoir distribution, and variations of their properties are often unreflected in the characteristics of seismic waves due to limitations of the seismic survey resolution. The sedimentation modeling describes spatiotemporal relationships of the identified lithofacies characterized by different reservoir potential. Application of these results during the seismic interpretation increases significantly reliability of the forecast of carbonate reservoir properties.