**1. Introduction**

More than 5500 deep oil and gas wells with a drilling volume of 10 million meters have been drilled within the Timan–Pechora sedimentary basin (TP SB). Only 54 wells have been drilled in the water area of the sedimentary basin, most of which have only exposed Mesozoic deposits. Drilling within the limits of the land of the TP SB is also uneven. In the northern half of the Izhma–Pechora syneclise, which is the area of this study, it does not exceed 0.01 m/km<sup>2</sup> (Figure 1), and it does not exceed 0.3 m/km<sup>2</sup> in the Malozemelsko–Kolguevskaya monocline, which indicates the lack of knowledge of this region and the prospects for the discovery of new oil and gas objects (Figure 1).

**Citation:** Prischepa, O.; Nefedov, Y.; Nikiforova, V. Arctic Shelf Oil and Gas Prospects from Lower-Middle Paleozoic Sediments of the Timan–Pechora Oil and Gas Province Based on the Results of a Regional Study. *Resources* **2022**, *10*, 3. https:// doi.org/10.3390/resources11010003

Academic Editor: Ben McLellan

Received: 16 November 2021 Accepted: 14 December 2021 Published: 28 December 2021

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**Copyright:** © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

**Figure 1.** Scheme of seismic study [1].

In the Pechora–Kolva aulacogen, located in the east, it increases to 200 m/km<sup>2</sup> in some areas. The Khoreyver depression of the Khoreyversko–Pechoromorskaya syneclise is characterized by an average drilling depth of 50–100 m/km2, but its coastal part has been studied to a much lesser extent—the drilling depth is only 10 m/km2. In the water area on the eastern half of Kolguev Island (East Kolguev structural zone), the drilling density is close to 50 m/km2. The most significant drilling operations on land were carried out by state-owned enterprises from the 1970s to the early 1990s of the last century [2,3].

A promising direction for further study of the region is the study of the storage reservoir and flow behavior in the Ordovician shale formation lying directly under the Silurian oil and gas source clay strata, which is a high-quality impermeable layer. Studies of the capacity of similar shale strata, from the point of view of the possibility of CO2 storage capacity and flow behavior in the shale formation, have been carried out by the Journal of Petroleum Science and Technology 2022 [4].

#### **2. The Economic Significance of the Resource Development of the Hydrocarbon Potential of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation**

The hydrocarbon (HC) potential of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) is considered as a strategic reserve for the reproduction of the mineral resource base of oil and gas in the long term. A detailed geological study and the industrial development of the Arctic regions, especially the water areas, are associated with a number of problems related to natural and climatic features, the complex geological structure of deposits, technological features, and the imperfection of the regulatory framework—the current unfavorable economic situation in the global and domestic markets for fuel and energy resources [5].

According to the results of the latest quantitative assessment, the volume of forecast resources of the Russian Arctic is estimated at more than 270 billion TOE (tonne of oil equivalent), including about 48.5 billion tons of oil and condensate and over 220 trillion m<sup>3</sup> of natural gas. At the same time, land resources are estimated at 156 billion TOE (58% of the total volume), of which a significant part is accounted for by gas, while the share of the water areas accounts for 42% of all resources, mainly gas and gas condensate. The largest hydrocarbon potential of the land of the Arctic zone, if we consider the subjects of the Russian Federation, is estimated to be in the Yamalo–Nenets Autonomous District (120.5 billion TOE, including 98.8 trillion m<sup>3</sup> of gas), followed by the Nenets Autonomous District (the northern part of the Timan– Pechora oil and gas province). In addition, with regards to the water area, the southern parts of the Kara and Barents Seas have the greatest potential, which are where all the deposits identified on the Arctic shelf and, accordingly, the oil, gas, and condensate reserves are located.

The raw hydrocarbon potential of the Arctic Seas of Russia is represented today by 19 deposits, most of which are located within the lips and bays of the Kara Sea; some are shelf extensions of onshore objects [5,6], and a smaller one is in the Pechora Sea on the continuation of the TPP. The volume of proven oil reserves is relatively small at 454 million tons, while the volume of projected oil resources is estimated at 12.8 billion tons, of which only 5% is concentrated in currently licensed areas. The volume of proven gas reserves is much larger at 9.2 trillion m3, 70% of which comprises fields with valid licenses; the volume of the forecasted natural gas resource base is 86.5 trillion m<sup>3</sup> [7–9].

The development of the HC raw material base of the AZRF, first of all, is associated with the implementation of large-scale projects for the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and gas on land, with the prospect of further using the created coastal industrial infrastructure in order to involve the marine hydrocarbon potential in industrial turnover and in the development of the Northern Sea Route. The coastal parts of the northern seas are now considered as outposts of testing and implementation of the latest technologies in the most difficult conditions [8]. The Pechora Sea (the southern part of the Barents Sea) is considered as one of the most important bridgeheads for advancing into the Arctic water area on the basis of the already identified and predicted hydrocarbon potential [10–12].

Since 2013, a project for the industrial development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field has been implemented in the Pechora Sea, the operator of which is PJSC "Gazprom Neft Shelf". The project can be called successful in terms of being able to test a huge number of development technologies and logistics solutions in difficult ice conditions with the development of the interaction of various services and support vessels.

The Shtokman gas condensate field has been prepared for development in the Barents Sea, but the start of development was postponed due to technological difficulties, the need for huge investments, and economic constraints caused by a significant reduction of the gas market in Europe for the Russian Federation and the withdrawal from projects of strategic partners. Among the achievements of domestic marine technology in the Arctic waters of Russia, one worthy of note is the Varandey terminal, which was built by the forces of PJSC "Lukoil" in the Pechora Sea and has an oil shipment volume of up to 12.5 million tons/year [13].

At the same time, the development of the hydrocarbon resource base on the Arctic shelf has significant limitations, and all the significant achievements of recent years in the preparation of new reserves have been reduced to the additional exploration of offshore extensions of land deposits. Domestic programs for the development of the raw material base of the Arctic seas are very impressive: according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, a significant amount of seismic work has been planned until 2023, and the number of exploratory wells drilled in the Arctic waters should reach 127 units [14]. The real pace of exploration in the water part of the Russian Arctic is limited by the huge cost of offshore drilling, the small capacity of its own drilling fleet, and sanctions and restrictions [15].
