The Timan-Pechora Basin is a
sedimentary basin
Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subside ...
located between
Timan Ridge The Timan Ridge (russian: Тиманский кряж – ''Timansky Kryazh'') is a highland in the far north of European Russia. Most of the Timan Ridge is situated in the Komi Republic, but the northernmost part is in Nenets Autonomous Okrug a ...
and the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
in northern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. The basin contains
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and
gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations.
Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...
s.
Oil and gas extraction
A planned project to mine its oil and gas was conceived in the mid-1990s and approved by
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n Governments. As of September 29, 2004,
Conoco and
LUKoil planned to jointly develop this Basin.
Since 2004 the production increased and the importance for LUKoil increased. However, the production began to decline in 2010. Large investments are needed to increase production rates or at least to maintain production at levels over 17 million tons annually.
Oil extraction has produced limited environmental damage. In particular it has caused
eutrophication
Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...
and
organic contamination of waters as interpreted from low
diatom diversity and absence of pollution sensitive diatoms among other things. Possibly oil extraction is also behind lower avian diversity at some locations as transport activity might have disturbed wildlife. Despite this much of the Pechora region can be described as "semi-pristine" from an ecological point of view.
In a 2018 assessment, the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
estimated for undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources, the mean totals for the region are 1,425 million barrels of shale oil, or 1.4 billion barrels of oil; 45,721 billion cubic feet, or 46 trillion cubic feet of gas; and 737 million barrels of natural gas liquids.
See also
*
Trebs and Titov oil fields
Trebs and Titov oil fields is a complex of Arctic oil fields in the Timan-Pechora Basin in Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia.
Oil fields have around of estimated oil reserves.
Recoverable reserves are 78.1 million tons in the Trebs fiel ...
*
Pechora coal basin The Pechora coal basin (Печорский угольный бассейн) is located in the Extreme North of European Russia. In covers nearly 90,000 km2 in Komi Republic and Nenets Autonomous Okrug of the Arkhangelsk Oblast.
The basin is ...
References
External links
Joint U.S. - Russian Statement In Support of the Timan Pechora Project from the White House Office of the Press Secretary on September 28, 1994
at the Moscow International Petroleum Club
Map of the Timan Pechora Hydrocarbon Regionat Blackbourn Geoconsulting
from the ''CIS Oil & Gas Report'' in December 1997
Foreland basins
Geology of European Russia
Oil fields of Russia
Sedimentary basins of Russia
Lukoil
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