Oil recovery forecast during reevaluation of visean clastic deposits reserves of north-east Volga-Ural oil and gas province

It is statistically proved that in the context of geological information uncertainty reliable prompt statistical evaluation of oil recovery factor (ORF) is helpful. It is especially relevant in case of design and specification of oil recovery from the developing field at the stage of prospecting and exploration planning. The bases for such express evaluation are geological and technological conditions of field development. The analysis of implementation reliability of existing models for oil recovery factor evaluation was done for Visean producing deposits at North-East part of Volga-Ural oil and gas province. Implementation possibilities of the methods were analyzed taking into account scenarios of natural depletion and pressure maintenance for Visean producing deposits. Calculation results show significant deviation of theoretical oil recovery from approved values in design project. The methodology for oil recovery factor evaluation was developed and adopted to the actual conditions of development of Volga-Ural oil and gas province (OGP). It is proved that analysis have to be done separately for the fields at natural depletion and pressure maintenance (PM) stages. Geological and technological informative parameters that influence final oil recovery were determined thanks to statistical processing methods. Oil recovery forecast was done based on multi-dimensional law, where arguments are geological and technological development parameters. In order to simplify its use in practice laws are built in two types in accordance with geological state of knowledge. In the first case only geological parameters represent initial information. That allows performing forecast evaluation of the field oil recovery while its exploration. In the second case technological parameters of development are considered as well. That allows most likely forecasting geological and exploration works. Obtained models significantly specify oil recovery from Visean deposits forecast. Is helps to increase truthfulness of geological and economic evaluation of prospecting, geological and exploration works

Fauna associated with shallow-water methane seeps in the Laptev Sea

Background Methane seeps support unique benthic ecosystems in the deep sea existing due to chemosynthetic organic matter. In contrast, in shallow waters there is little or no effect of methane seeps on macrofauna. In the present study we focused on the recently described methane discharge area at the northern Laptev Sea shelf. The aim of this work was to describe the shallow-water methane seep macrofauna and to understand whether there are differences in macrobenthic community structure between the methane seep and background areas. Methods Samples of macrofauna were taken during three expeditions of RV Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in 2015, 2017 and 2018 using 0.1 m2 grabs and the Sigsbee trawl. 21 grabs and two trawls in total were taken at two methane seep sites named Oden and C15, located at depths of 60–70 m. For control, three 0.1 m2 grabs were taken in area without methane seepage. Results The abundance of macrofauna was higher at methane seep stations compared to non-seep sites. Cluster analysis revealed five station groups corresponding to control area, Oden site and C15 site (the latter represented by three groups). Taxa responsible for differences among the station groups were mostly widespread Arctic species that were more abundant in samples from methane seep sites. However, high densities of symbiotrophic siboglinids Oligobrachia sp. were found exclusively at methane seep stations. In addition, several species possibly new to science were found at several methane seep stations, including the gastropod Frigidalvania sp. and the polychaete Ophryotrocha sp. The fauna at control stations was represented only by well-known and widespread Arctic taxa. Higher habitat heterogeneity of the C15 site compared to Oden was indicated by the higher number of station groups revealed by cluster analysis and higher species richness in C15 trawl sample. The development of the described communities at the shallow-water methane seeps can be related to pronounced oligotrophic environment on the northern Siberian shelf.publishedVersio

Possibilities of accounting the fracturing of Kashiro-Vereyskian carbonate objects in planning of proppant hydraulic fracturing

One of the effective methods of oil production intensification for heterogeneous Kashiro-Vereyskian clay-carbonate sediments of the Volga-Ural oil and gas bearing province is proppant hydraulic fracturing. Prospects of realization for this technology are considered in the article on the example of the Vereyskian development object of Moskud’inskoye field. Based on the analysis of rocks samples investigations of Vereyiskian sediments, lithological types of carbonate rocks differing in their structural features are distinguished. Tomographic investigations of rock samples were carried out, as a result of which the rock fracturing for some lithotypes was determined and studieds. Under natural geological conditions, depending on the degree of fracturing progression and technological conditions of development, these intervals may or may not be involved in well operation. When hydraulic fracturing is performed, potentially fractured areas that are not in operation can be successfully added to oil production. Based on analysis of hydrodynamic well investigations, the fracturing of the Vereyskian object of the Moskud’inskoye field was studied on the basis of the Warren-Ruth model. With the help of geological and technological indicators of development, prediction fracturing was obtained, which was used for the construction of the natural fracturing scheme. Areas of both pore and fractured reservoirs development were identified on the deposit area. As a result of statistical analysis, the influence of fracturing on efficiency of proppant hydraulic fracturing was determined. Based on the linear discriminant analysis, a statistical model for predicting the efficiency of proppant fracturing was developed. It was shown that in addition to natural fracturing, the results are most strongly influenced by specific proppant yield, formation pressure, permeability of the remote bottomhole zone and skin effect. Based on the developed model, prospective production wells of the Moskud’inskoye field are identified for proppant hydraulic fracturing

Accounting of geomechanical layer properties in multi-layer oil field development

Amid the ever-increasing urgency to develop oil fields with complex mining and geological conditions and low-efficiency reservoirs, in the process of structurally complex reservoir exploitation a number of problems arise, which are associated with the impact of layer fractures on filtration processes, significant heterogeneity of the structure, variability of stress-strain states of the rock mass, etc. Hence an important task in production engineering of such fields is a comprehensive accounting of their complex geology. In order to solve such problems, the authors suggest a methodological approach, which provides for a more reliable forecast of changes in reservoir pressure when constructing a geological and hydrodynamic model of a multi-layer field. Another relevant issue in the forecasting of performance parameters is accounting of rock compressibility and its impact on absolute permeability, which is the main factor defining the law of fluid filtration in the productive layer. The paper contains analysis of complex geology of a multi-layer formation at the Alpha field, results of compression test for 178 standard core samples, obtained dependencies between compressibility factor and porosity of each layer. By means of multiple regression, dependencies between permeability and a range of parameters (porosity, density, calcite and dolomite content, compressibility) were obtained, which allowed to take into account the impact of secondary processes on the formation of absolute permeability. At the final stage, efficiency of the proposed methodological approach for construction of a geological and hydrodynamic model of an oil field was assessed. An enhancement in the quality of well-by-well adaptation of main performance parameters, as well as an improvement in predictive ability of the adjusted model, was identified

Stress Sensors and Signal Transducers in Cyanobacteria

In living cells, the perception of environmental stress and the subsequent transduction of stress signals are primary events in the acclimation to changes in the environment. Some molecular sensors and transducers of environmental stress cannot be identified by traditional and conventional methods. Based on genomic information, a systematic approach has been applied to the solution of this problem in cyanobacteria, involving mutagenesis of potential sensors and signal transducers in combination with DNA microarray analyses for the genome-wide expression of genes. Forty-five genes for the histidine kinases (Hiks), 12 genes for serine-threonine protein kinases (Spks), 42 genes for response regulators (Rres), seven genes for RNA polymerase sigma factors, and nearly 70 genes for transcription factors have been successfully inactivated by targeted mutagenesis in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Screening of mutant libraries by genome-wide DNA microarray analysis under various stress and non-stress conditions has allowed identification of proteins that perceive and transduce signals of environmental stress. Here we summarize recent progress in the identification of sensory and regulatory systems, including Hiks, Rres, Spks, sigma factors, transcription factors, and the role of genomic DNA supercoiling in the regulation of the responses of cyanobacterial cells to various types of stress

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Heavy metal concentrations in fauna from hydrothermal fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Distributions of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Pb, As, Ag, Cd, Se, Sb, and Hg in 128 samples of tissues of organisms that inhabit hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Menez Gwen, Snake Pit, and Rainbow) depending on the abiotic environmental parameters were studied. The majority of the elements studied showed direct correlations between their concentrations in fluids released and in tissues of hydrothermal organisms. A higher degree of bioaccumulation of metals was revealed in Bathymodiolus mussels and Rimicaris shrimps from the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field as compared to their analogues from the Menez Gwen and Snake Pit fields. This corresponds to maximal concentrations of the majority of the metals studied in the Rainbow high-temperature hydrothermal fluids. The highest degree of bioaccumulation of heavy metals was found in gills of symbiotrophic mussels Bathymodiolus and in maxillipeds of ectosymbiotic shrimps Rimicaris, i.e., in organs that function in dependence on chemosynthetic bacteria. Within the Rainbow vent field, the shrimps, which inhabit in biotopes with more high-temperature conditions and therefore are more strongly subjected to influence of fluids, were found to contain higher metal contents than mollusks. Fe-Mn hydroxide films that cover mussel shells might serve as important reservoirs of other metals related to Fe and Mn