On the Issue of Oil and Gas Prospects in the Arctic Regions of Western Siberia

The actual data and an analysis of the oil and gas potential of the Arctic regions of Western Siberia and, in particular, the South Kara Basin indicate their high oil and gas prospects. The general wedging out of the Mesozoic–Cenozoic and possibly Paleozoic deposits, the decrease in the thickness of the sedimentary sequence in the southwestern part of the Kara Sea, and, in connection with this, the tendency to decrease in paleotemperatures and reduction in stages of catagenesis allowed us to identify other depths of hydrocarbon (HC) accumulations in these regions relative to the fields in the northern part of the West Siberian oil and gas basin (OGB). The oil and gas complexes (OGCs) 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.