Hydrocarbon traps holding 6.4 bln t of oil equivalent found in Barents Sea

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) - Geophysical studies of the Barents Sea have discovered large hydrocarbon traps with combined resources of about 6.4 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, the Federal Subsurface Resources Agency reported.

The South Barents and Shtokman-Luninsky oil and gas areas of the East Barents oil and gas region have the greatest resource potential, the document said.

The structural traps of the East Barents forecast oil and gas area of the East Barents oil and gas region and the Central Barents forecast oil and gas area of the West Barents oil and gas region have the greatest hydrocarbon potential, with Dl category resources estimated 3.432 billion and 3.033 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, respectively, the agency said, adding that Triassic and Jurassic oil and gas plays have the highest resource potential.

The agency also said that an assessment of localized hydrocarbon resources has been completed in the area of the sedimentary basins of the Sea of Okhotsk and they total 544.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

"Based on the results of the carried out work, the conclusion was made that conducting further geological exploration work is not recommended for the North Okhotsk and Sakhalin shelf due to the completion of the regional phase of study; the Prikamchatsky shelf due to the negligible reservoir thickness in the upper part of the profile; and the South Okhotsk shelf given the absence of prospective sites," the document said.