Substantiation of petroleum potential of the Domanik-Tournaisian carbonates: specifics of applying the risk assessment methodology (Timan-Pechora petroleum basin)

Researches, case studies, and any other geological investigations should be ultimately aimed at meeting the public demand in any required type of mineral resources. In petroleum geology, this means accelerated and cost-effective discovery of oil and gas fields that are profitable for development. Risk assessment is the important component of geological and economic evaluation of project implementation. This work allows creating algorithm of making decisions on exploration activities optimisation in any stage, and define key priorities, first and foremost exploration targets (plays). In assessment of risks of any given project, determination of geological success chance is the key constituent. The world's leading oil companies and research teams have their own methods for determining the probability of geological success (Pg). They are based on the comprehensive assessment of possible prospects of the region in the context of certain considerations related to different elements of petroleum systems (oil and gas source rocks, reservoir, fluid barrier, trap, time of structures formation, hydrocarbon generation and migration). The difference between the methodologies is the variable number of significant multipliers (factors) of evaluation validity and level of detail. The authors consider an example of the risk assessment methodology application for substantiation of petroleum potential of the Domanik-Tournaisian play, including Domanikites within the pre-Urals Foredeep (Timan-Pechora Petroleum Province) and prioritizing of exploration activities