Oils rich in asphaltenes and resins: common factors of spatial distribution, physical and chemical properties

The authors present evaluation of high-asphaltene and high-resin oil resources as a key source of hydrocarbon raw materials in future, as well as analysis of common factors of their spatial distribution and special features of physical and chemical properties in present-day realities. Basing on the analysis of information from the database of physical and chemical properties of world oils and spatial distribution of world oil reserves, the authors show that one third of oil and gas bearing basins in the world contain high-asphaltene and high-resin oil reserves. This fact places an emphasis on the novelty of this paper and relevance of studies of this type of oil in modern and predicted future oil production scenarios. The paper presents the results of systematization of data related to high-asphaltene and high-resin oils and reveals specific features of their reserves distribution across countries. It is shown that more than 80% of world high-asphaltene oil reserves occur in Canada, Venezuela, and Russia; and more than 85% of high-resin oils - in Canada and Russia. About 94% of Russian high-asphaltene and high-resin oils occur in three petroleum basins, they are: Volga-Urals, West Siberian, and Timan-Pechora. Statistical analysis of the physical and chemical properties of high-asphaltene and high-resin oils was carried out. Asphaltene- and resin-rich oils are found to have high density and viscosity, high sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen, as well as vanadium and nickel content