Viscous and heavy oils of Arctic zone

Abstract

The paper presents the comparative analysis of physicochemical properties of oils in North American, Scandinavian, and Russian sectors of the Arctic. The analysis of oil reserve distribution in the arctic territory and aquatory shows that the Russian sector is much higher in oil reserves than North American and Scandinavian sectors. A study of physicochemical properties of viscous and heavy oils in the Russian part of the Arctic is presented in this paper. Using a global database on physical and chemical properties of oils, analysis of the distribution of viscous, heavy oils in terms of the volumes of their reserves was carried out. It is known, that heavy and viscous oils account for slightly more than 33 % of the total samples. The criteria necessary to classify oils as hard-to-recover oil reserves are determined. The features of the physico-chemical properties of these oils are studied under various conditions of the Arctic. The results of a comparative analysis of hard-to-recover oils from the main basin West Siberian of the Arctic zone of Russia are given, which made it possible to establish the features of the physicochemical properties of oil. The results of the research can be used to develop new and improve existing methods and technologies for oil production and refining.