LOCAL PREDICTION OF VERY LARGE OIL AND GAS ACCUMULATIONS FROM MORPHOSTRUCTURAL DATA

Abstract

The special features of this investigation are as follows: 1) we use readily accessible data; 2) the prediction is truly local, and the locations of the fields are determined within about 75 km; 3) the effectiveness of the prediction, i.e., the probability of finding a large oil or gas field in a given area, is estimated to be at least 80 percent. The local prediction is formulated on three independent bases: the morphostructural zoning procedure [1-3], pattern recognition techniques using learning programs and the D-wave concept, which describes global patterns in the distribution of the world's largest oil and gas fields. This paper continues an investigation of the local prediction of extremely large oil and gas accumulations in South America. The choice of a new region for further development of the method sprang from the need for a quantitative evaluation of the efficiency of prediction, which must include at least 10 sedimentary basins with extremely large accumulations of oil and gas. This requirement is satisfied by the West Siberian oil and gas basin.