SOVIET SAYS DATA SHARING WILL HELP FIND OIL
A Soviet geologist said scientists need
to coordinate data about onshore and offshore oil deposits to
help identify global formations that would indicate other
potential discoveries of oil and gas reserves.
    Vladmir Vladiminovich Semenovich, the head of petroleum
geology at Moscow State University, told delegates at the World
Petroleum Congress that exploration efficiency could also be
improved through new and more sophisticated technology.
    "We should emphasize that when having the data about
petroleum distribution onshore and offshore, it is possible to
clarify the idea of global regularities in oil and gas
prospects," Semenovich said. "However, much work should be done
to coordinate data concerning the structure and oil and gas
prospects in adjoining onshore and offshore basins."
    Sharing the information could help geologists better
predict regional trends and underground formations that
indicate the presence of oil or gas, he said.
    Semenovich also said that existing estimates of the
potential oil and natural gas resources of the world may need
to be revised upward as oil companies continue to examine
unexplored regions.
    The world, which has already produced 476 billion barrels
of oil and gas, has a current total of about 733 billion
barrels in proved reserves. Undiscovered resources are
estimated at about 1.4 trillion barrels, or about half of the
total ultimate reserves, Semenovich said.
    "There are a lot of unstudied regions all over the world
and, as far as the already known basins, one continues to find
additional reserves," he said, noting that Antarctica has been
virtually ignored. "The existing estimate of potential
resources of the world may need to be enlarged."
    To find deeper and more expensive reserves, scientists will
need to use 3-D mapping of underground formations and laser
spectrometry to measure bitumen in soils and plants among other
techniques, he said.
    He estimated that continental slopes contain about 10 to 13
pct of all offshore reserves.
    Semenovich also said that virtually all of the total oil
and gas resources now estimated to exist in the world would be
discovered and placed in production during the next 50 years.
    After his speech, Semenovich told Reuters that Soviet oil
production was increasing. "The difficulties of 1985 have been
overcome and we're now back to normal production," he said.
    The Soviet Union, the world's largest producer of oil, had
experienced drilling and technical problems that cut total
liquids production from 12.45 mln barrels a day in 1984 to 12.1
mln barrels a day in 1985. Last year, the Soviets produced an
estimated 12.3 mln barrels.
    When asked about the recent reopening and testing of a coal
gasification project in Soviet Central Asia, Semenovich said
the project was important because of the lack of oil reserves
in the region.
    Semenovich declined to identify at what level of world oil
prices the coal gasification process would become economic
again. "It's too expensive for the time being," Semenovich
said.
    "Theoretical development is underway and tests are being
run. For the moment, coal gasification is a very small part of
the energy industry," he said.
 Reuter
