Major hydrocarbon reserves have been discovered and developed during the last 20 years in the Russian Arctic. Productive basins include the West Siberian, Pechora, and Vilyuy. Gas discoveries in the Anadyr basin are too new to be evaluated. Untested basins include the following: (1) onshore: Anabar, Lena delta, Indigirka, and Kolyma; and (2) offshore: Barents and Pechora Seas, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Bering Sea, and Sea of Okhotsk.

In the West Siberian basin, as of January 1, 1970, more than 40 oil fields and 50 gas fields had been found. Production is from Cretaceous and Jurassic paralic to nonmarine strata. At least 9 oil fields had reserves greater than 500 million bbl; 20 gas fields had reserves greater than 3.5 Tcf. Samotlor is the largest oil field with 15.1 billion bbl; Urengoy, the world's largest gas field, had 210 Tcf. Deepest production was from about 10,500 ft, but most production was shallower than 8,150 ft.

The Pechora basin contained about 62 oil and gas fields productive from Devonian through Permian marine strata. Of these, 1 oil field contained more than 500 million bbl and 2 gas fields, more than 3.5 Tcf. Deepest production was from about 11,155 ft.

The Yenesey-Khatanga trough contained several fields, but is relatively undeveloped.

The Vilyuy basin contained about 41 gas fields, of which 2 gas fields contained more than 3.5 Tcf each in Triassic and Jurassic paralic strata. Deepest production was from about 9,840 ft.

More than 200 structures remain to be tested in the 4 basins. Although deformed basement has been penetrated in several areas, particularly near basin margins, the basin centers have not been explored thoroughly. In most of the West Siberian basin, for example, 2,000-8,000 ft of section below the deepest producing zones has not been tested.

In the West Siberian basin alone, proved plus probable oil reserves exceed 35 billion bbl, and proved plus potential gas reserves exceed 400 Tcf. If the results from the West Siberian, Vilyuy, and Pechora basins are indicative of Russian Arctic potential, a bright future could be in store for the Russian petroleum industry.

Despite the high costs and enormous logistics problems involved in development of these remote permafrost areas, the Russians are well on their way in developing

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the West Siberian fields. The first pipeline of 40-in. diameter was completed to the Omsk refinery in 1967, and a second pipeline, of 48-in. diameter, is under construction. Siberia already has achieved self-sufficiency and the flow of crude oil in the Trans-Siberian pipeline was reversed west of Omsk in the summer of 1970 so that surplus West Siberian crude now moves westward to European Russia instead of the previous eastward flow of Volga-Urals crude to Siberia. In the Pechora basin, development of the largest potential producer, the Usa field, was underway in 1970 and construction of a pipeline to the Yaroslavl refinery in central Russia was started. The gas of the Vilyuy basin at present is used only locally, in the city of Yakutsk. No specific plans for long-distance transmissio have been announced.

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