No. 1, 2010
Olga Romanovskaya
,
Cand. Sc. (Technology)
THE OIL HISTORY OF WESTERN SIBERIA
On the 75th anniversary of the first systematic geological surveys in the oil-bearing areas of Western Siberia.
At the end of August 1934, a telegram signed by the geologist V.G. Vasiliyev was received by the Editorial Board of the newspaper Sovietsky Sever (Soviet North): "The indication of oil in Yugan has been confirmed. Detailed geological surveys are needed." Thus, convincing confirmation was received that day of the far-sighted proposition made by the outstanding Russian oil geologist Academician Ivan Gubkin (1872-1939) concerning the existence of oil on the eastern slopes of the Urals on the territory of Western Siberia.
The Yugan prologue
On October 2, 1934, at a special meeting of the Khanty-Mansi Area committee of the Communist Party, the question was considered of the communication made by the geological engineer Vasilyev "on prospecting for oil in the Area" and a resolution was adopted to "promote rapidly the question of exploration for and production of Yugan oil."
On January 27, 1935, the newspaper Omskaya Pravda carried an article entitled "In Pursuit of Oil," which stated: "The Vostokneft Trust is getting together and preparing for departure a major geological survey expedition to the Surgut and Verkhne-Tavdinsky districts of the Omsk Region. The aim of the expedition is to disclose the nature of the oil shows discovered along the rivers Bolshoy Yugan and Belaya. Eight senior and engineering personnel are leaving Ufa, headed by the expedition leader, the geologist Vasilyev. Some 150,000 rubles have been allocated for the expedition, and equipment and tackle are already being ordered. The whole expedition will consist of 84 people, 42 of them to work at Bolshoy Yugan and 42 in Verkhnyaya Tavda."
Toward the end of January 1935, all the expedition members met up in Tyumen and then set off in two teams for the places where they were to carry out exploration work. This was the starting point of their activities in the Surgut and Verkhne-Tavdinsky districts.
The Vostokneft Trust expedition was headed by the young geologist Viktor Vasilyev (1910-1973), who subsequently became a Dr. Sc. in geology and mineralogy, was awarded the State Prize of the USSR and wrote a number of fundamental monographs on the presence of oil and gas in various parts of the USSR.
An official description of this period of Viktor Vasilyev's activities states succinctly that: "... in 1934, launched geological survey work in parts of the Western Siberian lowland, the aim being to provide a scientific justification for the prospects for the territory bearing oil and gas. Geological surveys were conducted along the rivers Tavda, Ishim and Irtysh from Tobolsk to the river mouth, the Ob from Surgut to Salekhard, the Bolshoy Yugan, Kazym, Miass and others. He organized shallow drilling to determine the existence of Palaeogenic rocks at the mouth of the River Irtysh and, for the first time, announced the possibility of exotic origins of these formations, with the results of the drilling confirming his proposition. Following his studies, outcrops of bedrock of the Palaeogenic and Jurassic periods were mapped at these points. In addition, shallow drilling was carried out to check oil shows on the River Belaya and in the basins of the Tavda and Bolshoy Yugan rivers. The results of these investigations were published in an article in 1937. The data were consolidated later and published in the form of a monograph in 1946."
These laconic phrases conceal the complex and sometime tragic saga of Viktor Vasiliyev's expedition under unbelievably difficult conditions, in uninhabited areas far from roads and populated centers, when the harshest nature and severe climatic conditions at that time made it difficult to carry out any planned geological studies.
The thorny path of the geological surveyors
During the first field season in 1935, in the Yugan area, the geological expedition sent two teams to drill 40 m deep boreholes manually. In total, 400 m of shallow drilling and 25 m3 of shaft boring were carried out. On the River Belaya, the planned volume of work was less: 5 wildcats and 150-200 m of drilling. In addition, bore sampling of the upper zone of the river bed to a depth of 5 m was planned at 40 locations.
Viktor Vasilyev, as head of the expedition, was not only in charge of the team of geological surveyors, but also directly responsible for the prospecting work in the River Tavda.
The head of the Yugan team was the young geologist Rodion Gugol. He was in charge of the surveys performed along the rivers Bolshoy and Maly Yugan and drilling of 32 wildcats. The geologists established that, as the wells were sunk, at different places and at different depths, a rainbow film with all the characteristic features of oil appeared in annular space.
In the course of the field work, the mobile laboratory actively analyzed samples of rocks and groundwater, establishing their specific nature.
Moscow's geological verdict
The results of the geological exploration carried out during the 1935 season were very encouraging. On November 23, 1935, a conference started in Moscow to discuss the results of geological prospecting for oil in Western Siberia and the eastern Urals. The 4-day conference was chaired by Academician Ivan Gubkin and attended by renowned Soviet geologists and oil experts. The report made by Konstantin Chepikov, head of the Vostokneft Trust, noted: "The main aim of all the investigations carried out was to seek oil showings, 40 oil claims being studied in more detail, and the secondary task facing the geological teams was to identify the stratigraphy and tectonics of the deposits making up the eastern slopes of the Urals and the Western Siberian lowland, in particular the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits... The teams of workers and engineers worked hard and completed their tasks in volume terms." The next speaker was the geologist Viktor Vasilyev, who gave a thorough characterization of the work of the Western Siberian expedition and noted, in particular, the need for more through study of the territory, using geophysical methods and core drilling.
The last three days saw a heated discussion of these two reports, resulting in the first item in the resolution of the conference stating: "The Great Western Siberian Depression, coinciding with the Western Siberian lowland, undoubtedly deserves careful study from the point of view of seeking oil fields within its boundaries, as indicated by the oil showings on the River Belaya in the Tavda District and the River Bolshoy Yugan, as well as the existence of bitumen impregnation of Jurassic rocks on the River Iset and of folding in both Tertiary and Jurassic deposits. Proceeding from this, the conference deems it necessary to organize systematic geological prospecting for oil here, within the bounds of this region, for a period of several years."
Follow up
Viktor Vasilyev's article "In Search of Oil," published in the newspaper Omskaya Pravda on December 12, 1936, stressed that: "The forecast made by Academician Ivan Gubkin is confirmed in all the materials currently available to us ... The most pressing task is to study individual areas in detail by geophysical survey methods. Only then will the question arise of launching drilling works."
Unfortunately, geological exploration in Western Siberia was, even so, suspended for almost three years. In 1937, mass-scale repressions began in the country and many of the Vostokneft Trust geologists were arrested, convicted of sabotage and sent to labor camps.
Only in the spring of 1939 were attempts renewed to restore geological personnel and restart oil prospecting in Western Siberia. In March 1939, People's Commissar for the Fuel Industry Ivan Sedin instructed the management of Glavgeologia to work out the issue of developing geological exploration and prospecting work in Siberia.
On September 10, 1939, Glavgeologia Head Vasiliy Senyukov sends a special report to the People's Commissar entitled "On organization of a large-scale geophysical expedition to Western Siberia in 1939-1940," which emphasized: "In fulfillment of your instructions on accelerating oil prospecting in Siberia, it is proposed to prepare in 1940 for a number of deep wells to be sunk within the bounds of the Western Siberian lowland." The proposal made by Glavgeologia was accepted and on November 22, 1939, the People's Commissar for the Fuel Industry, Ivan Sedin, signed an order "On expanding the scope of geological prospecting for oil in Siberia." The main task set for the expedition was to carry out geological surveying of an area of 400,000 km2 and, already by the fall of 1940, select areas and sites for deep rotor drilling for oil.
The experienced geologist Alexey Shayderov was appointed head of the expedition. Yet full provision for this very complex task was not made in terms of financing, manpower and inventories. The preparations went on for many months, with the result that the launch of the work was put off by almost a year.
The war, which broke out on June 22, 1941, immediately pushed aside the plans for geological surveying of the oil-bearing areas of Western Siberia. Yet, in spite of the extremely difficult situation in the country, the work in the Tavda District continued and, on June 12, 1942, special order No. 37 of Glavneftegazrazvedka "On accelerating oil prospecting in Western Siberia" was issued. Even so, the objective circumstances of the harsh war period proved stronger than the enthusiasm of the geological teams doing everything they could to fulfill the set tasks.
