West Siberian Basin

The immense West Siberian Basin accounts for the vast majority of hydrocarbon production in Russia. Although much of the basin is mature with respect to hydrocarbon exploration, large parts of it are underexplored. It formed as a rift basin in the Late Permian to Early Triassic, synchronous with the waning stages of Uralian orogenesis, between the East European and Siberian cratons. The irregular nature of the basement resulted in focused sediment deposition during syn-rift and early post-rift phases. Many fundamental questions remain about aspects of the basin evolution and of reservoir formation, distribution and quality. Exposures of Mesozoic strata occur around the basin allowing sedimentological and structural field investigations as well as enabling sample collection for laboratory analysis.

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Regional Expertise

CASP has studied aspects of the Mesozoic stratigraphy of the West Siberian Basin for over 20 years. Two field seasons were carried out in 2004 and 2005 in the Kuznetsk Basin and Krasnoyarsk Region, followed by a third season in the Yenisey-Khatanga Region during 2006. This fieldwork involved the collection of sedimentological and structural observations and rock samples. All data have been integrated with Russian literature. Provenance studies on basin margin outcrops provide a template for understanding sediment transport paths in the basin.

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