The first results of the application of the mine method for oil fields development in Yarega: underground wells exploitation

The series of papers discusses the first results of industrial application of the mine method of oil production in the conditions of the Yarega oil field in the period of 1939-1944. Based on the analysis of literary sources and archival materials, the basic prerequisites for the use of the mine method of oil production, and the development of technologies and technical means for the mine method of development were studied. This paper discusses the features of underground wells exploitation by the mine method, the main mechanisms of oil production, as well as the features of the geological structure of the field that influenced the processes of oil production. The data on the first observations of oil mine specialists on the geological structure of the Yarega field, which established the presence of disjunctive disturbances and intense fracturing, that changed the nature of the wells operation when hitting them, are presented. The role of the Geological Service of Oil Mine №1 during the trial operation of a new mine method of oil production, which has specially developed a method of structural analysis to determine the spatial position of fractured oil accumulations, is noted. Information on the choice of the field development system and the introduction of a new for that time “Ukhta method of mine oil production” is presented. It was found that the main methods of exploiting the first underground wells were such as fountain, airlift, bailing. The dynamics of the main indicators of field development during experimental application of the mine method of oil production was also given.