On the issue of oil and gas prospects in the Arctic regions of Western Siberia

The currently available factual data, analysis of the existing oil and gas potential of the surrounding territories indicate high oil and gas prospects in the Arctic regions of Western Siberia and in particular the South Kara Basin. The general wedging out of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic and possibly Paleozoic deposits and the decrease in the thickness of the sedimentary fill in the southwestern part of the Kara Sea, and in connection with this, the tendency to decrease paleotemperatures and stages of catagenesis, led to other boundaries of the depths of detection of hydrocarbon (HC) accumulations relative to the fields of the northern part of the West Siberian oil and gas basin (OGB). The oil and gas complexes (OGC) of the north of Western Siberia produce both oil and gas accumulations, are characterized by different catagenic transformations, and are associated with different lithofacies and tectonic settings. The prospects and possible generation activity of the pre-Jurassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous oil and gas fields of the southwestern part of the Kara Sea are considered.