Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Zyryanka Basin Province, 2008

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Zyryanka Basin Province as part of the 2008 USGS Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal program. The province is in the Russian Federation and is situated on the Omolon superterrane of the Kolyma block. The one assessment unit (AU) that was defined for this study, called the Zyryanka Basin AU, which coincides with the province, was assessed for undiscovered, technically recoverable, conventional resources. The estimated mean volumes of undiscovered resources in the Zyryanka Basin Province are ~72 million barrels of crude oil, 2,282 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 61 million barrels of natural-gas liquids. About 66 percent of the study area and undiscovered petroleum resources are north of the Arctic Circle.