Vol 3, No 1 (2021)

This article continues a series of reviews of the world’s oil and gas basins, where active exploration and development of hydrocarbon deposits in superdeep (6 km +) horizons are taking place, as probable analogues of projects in the Caspian megabasin, primarily the Eurasia project. In this regard the Gulf of Mexico is of great interest, since this region is very well studies over such a long history of its development and thus makes it possible to analyze a huge amount of data collected during this time.

The Gulf of Mexico includes the deep-water, offshore and coastal parts of three countries – the United States, Mexico and Cuba, and is one of the most important oil and gas provinces in the world. Its deposits are represented by various complexes – from the Middle Jurassic to modern sediments, with a total thickness of 14,000 m and more. Exploration for hydrocarbons has been going on here for almost 100 years. During this time, various new technologies have been developed and successfully applied, such as forecasting abnormally high reservoir pressure, cyclostratigraphy and seismic facies analysis, characterization of low-resistivity productive reservoirs and the search for ultra-deep hydrocarbon deposits.

Of all the variety of objects developed in the Gulf, in the context of the study of deep deposits, the main interest and possible associations with the Caspian megabasin are the deposits of the Norflet Formation of the Upper Jurassic, which are discussed in the main part of this article. Of course, we are not talking about a direct comparison; in particular, the aeolian origin of part of the section makes this object significantly different. Nevertheless, according to the authors, studying it, as well as understanding how a successful project for its development is being implemented right before our eyes, can provide a lot of important information for working in the deep horizons of the Caspian region.

The article is divided into two parts. The first examines the geological history of the formation of the Gulf of Mexico Basin, the features of the deep-lying productive complex of the Norflet Formation. The second part provides information about the history of exploration of the Norflet productive complex, characteristics of the main discoveries, as well as the prospects for discoveries of new superdeep deposits in the Norflet Formation within the Gulf of Mexico (sectors of the United States and Mexico). Analysis of the history of the development of this complex by the global «player» – Shell, is very important, as one of the scenarios for the development of deep horizons in other oil and gas basins, incl. Caspian. International Oil Companies are able to mobilize the necessary resources and technology to effectively address this challenge.

In the conditions of high depletion of oil fields and unstable oil prices, the methods for enhancing oil recovery are becoming especially relevant, the use of which contributes to an increase of the oil recovery factor in addition to the use of the secondary oil recovery methods. One of the technologies, allowing the ORF to be enhanced, is polymer water flooding, the distinct advantages of which include a wide range of application and design variability upon implementation.

This paper presents the results of applying the polymer water flooding technology at the Zuburunye field. With the purpose of determining the strategy for the further implementation of the polymer water flooding technology, and finding the optimal forecast options for the field development, calculations have been carried out on a constructed hydrodynamic model.

Large reserves of hard-to-recover oil belong to the category of high-viscosity, heavy oils. Despite the shallow depth of occurrence, there are technological difficulties in extracting these fluids to the surface. The properties of reservoir oil, which directly affect the oil recovery factor, have a key role for the production technology. The article considers an example of analysis and substantiation of the properties of high-viscosity oil from the chalk reservoir of the East Moldabek field.

The relevance of this work is associated with the need to reduce the volume of water used by returning it to the start of the technological process. Thus, the work aims to improve the quality of the recycled water supply to petrochemical and oil refineries, in particular “Atyrau Refinery” LLP. This article provides data on purification of blowdown water by reverse osmosis method. A pilot reverse osmosis unit with a capacity of 600 l / h has been manufactured and a technological scheme for purification to standards that meet the requirements of make-up water has been developed, as well as a technical task for the design of industrial recycling water supply systems and appropriate recommendations have been provided.

The article discusses the main trends in the development of universities in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The author emphasizes that in the changed conditions require a new philosophy of learning and different approaches. The article presents a case of adaptation to these conditions of Safi Utebaev Atyrau Oil and Gas University. Project management used by the leadership of the university in their practice passes the effectiveness test.