Criteria for Predicting the Hydrocarbon Potential of Riphean-Vendian Deposits in the Mezen Syneclise

The East European Platform is one of the most extensively studied regions of Russia in terms of geological exploration. However, certain areas remain relatively underexplored from a geological and geophysical perspective. One such region in the European part of Russia is the Mezen syneclise and the adjacent shelf of the White Sea. This area is characterized by complex and poorly studied geological structures. No hydrocarbon inflows have been obtained from the sedimentary cover deposits of the Mezen syneclise. The oil and gas potential of the region can only be inferred from hydrocarbon shows and elevated hydrocarbon concentrations detected in the underground waters of the Riphean and Vendian formations during drilling. Based on a conceptual geological model and an evolutionary-genetic analysis of the region’s development, an assessment of the specific resource density of the Precambrian section of the sedimentary cover was conducted. A key factor that influenced the region’s hydrocarbon potential was the Vendian collision of the East European Craton with the Pechora Plate. The prospects for discovering oil and gas accumulations are associated with the platform slopes of the most subsided structures, including the Safonovsky, East Safonovsky, and Leshukonsky depressions. The primary exploration targets are structural-lithological hydrocarbon traps located along these slopes, which have been minimally affected by tectonic transformations and may have preserved their hydrocarbon potential.