А.A. Popov, S.F. Khafizov
Creaming curve analysis and structural-facies zoning: tools for assessing hydrocarbon exploration prospects in the North Sakhalin Petroleum Basin
DOI 10.47148/0016-7894-2025-4-105-118
Key words: hydrocarbon resource base; creaming curve (or “resource accumulation curve”); structural-facies zoning; geological exploration; North Sakhalin Petroleum Basin.
For citation: А.A. Popov A.A., Khafizov S.F. Creaming curve analysis and structural-facies zoning: tools for assessing hydrocarbon exploration prospects in the North Sakhalin Petroleum Basin. Geologiya nefti i gaza. 2025;(4):105–118. DOI: 10.47148/0016-7894-2025-4-105-118. In Russ.
In the modern world, a distinctive feature of exploration and appraisal activities within a small subsoil area, a structural-facies zone, or even a well-studied hydrocarbon basin with proven commercial potential is that the likelihood of discovering large or unique fields is decreasing, as is the quality of the reservoir rocks composing exploration targets. At the same time, as exploration targets become more and more complicated, the costs of both exploration and appraisal activities and the technologies required for their development increase. All oil and gas producing company ultimately encounter the necessity to invest in exploration and appraisal works to sustain their mineral resource base, with investment justification becoming increasingly challenging in well-explored areas, especially on the continental shelf [1]. It is also important to determine the appropriate time to leave an exploration area or basin when it proves unpromising. These decisions are as important as deciding to drill individual exploration targets within a structural-facies zone or the entire basin [2]. Prior to making such decisions, the majority of oil and gas companies evaluate the remaining resource base potential using a range of methods. In conventional practice adopted by a subsoil user evaluating a region, hydrocarbon accumulations are explored moving from known areas to those unknown. In practice, in the absence of the required geological and geophysical information, a subsoil user avoids investing in exploration projects, because the availability of data in an amount sufficient for making informed decisions is not assured. The authors present an approach for evaluating prospective hydrocarbon reserves that addresses the issue mentioned above, based on the analysis of resource accumulation curve (Creaming curve analysis) in the North Sakhalin Petroleum Basin, which is an effective tool for making investment decisions, determining research priorities, and planning exploration and appraisal activities. Applicable in any oil and gas basin with both discovered and producing fields, this approach allows the assessment of a region’s potential even without the complete set of geological and geophysical information
Alexey A. Popov ORCiD
Production Geology Discipline Head, Principal geologist
LLC «Sakhalin Energy»,
35, ul. Dzerjinskogo, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693020, Russia
e-mail: alexey.popov@sakhalin2.ru
Sergei Ph.Khafizov ORCiD Scopus
Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Professor,
Head of Department
Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas
65, Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow, 119991, Russia
e-mail: khafizov@gubkin.ru
AuthorID: 922326
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