CHAPTER 11 MINERAL BASE OF THE USSR PROSPECTS OF INVESTMENT
| Jurisdiction | United States |
(Feb 1991)
MINERAL BASE OF THE USSR PROSPECTS OF INVESTMENT
A.I.Krivtsov
Ministry of Geology of USSR
Moscow, USSR
Several generations of the Soviet geologists have substantially contributed into development of the mineral base of the Soviet Union. The State Geological Survey of the country was established in 1882. Its major objective was seen to identify all types of minerals and ores and their economic evaluation, establishment and expansion of the mineral potential to provide the exploration and development of mining industry.
Some 250 enterprises enter into the USSR's State Geological Survey, comprising 91 productive units, 9 scientific productive research institutes, 15 design offices, 22 plants. In 1989 geological staff employed 633.2 thousand, that include 233 thou. of engineers and technical officers, 560 professors and 6.420 doctors of science.
The economic efficiency of geological exploration can be exemplified by the fact that each invested rouble pays back by 25-rouble — worth of mineral wealth. Expenditures for oil-and-gas exploration comprise 70%, those for gold, diamond, nonferrous and rare metals amount up to about 15%, ones for hydrogeological works — 5%, for geological mapping — 4%, around 2% — for research works in the World Ocean and 3% — for agricultural raw and building material.
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Annual geological survey in the USSR covers the area of nearly 0,5 million sq.km. while all kinds of hydrogeological and engineering geological surveys, mainly of environmental trend, are conducted over the area of nearly 175.000 sq.km. In 1989 seismic survey was performed along the profiles of total length up to 225.000 km.
Geological exploration requires extremely substantial drilling increasing annually either because of the exploration expansion or increase of explorative depths. Drilling amount for oil and gas, at an average well depth of nearly 3 km, accomplished by the USSR's Ministry of Geology, accounted for 5.0 million , which 2.1 million meters account for Tumen area. In 1989 a total of 23.3 million meters were drilled in exploration of minerals and underground waters.
MINERAL BASE OF THE USSR AND ITS DEVELOPMENT
In the past four years the balance reserves increased in: 15% for crude oil and condensate, 17% for gas, 2-7% for nonferrous metals, 7% for gold, 11% for diamonds, 3% for phosphorites. Within the period of 1986-1989 436 various mineral deposits were bearing iron ore, copper, nickel, poly-metallic ore, placer tin, molybdenum, apatite ore, oil and gas. Some 369 deposits have been turned over for commercial exploitation, including 145 oil and gas fields, 40 coal deposits as well as 11 ferrous metals, 20 nonferrous metal, 3 diamond, 9 gold and platiniferrous, 15 non-metal, 12 underground water
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deposits. 322 oil and gas fields, including 148 in Western Siberia were discovered in that time. Branch science carries out scientific research and experimental design in all directions of branch activity. There are scientific and methodological basis of exploration, progressive technology, new techniques and devices that designed, developed and introduced. The major objective was assumed to increase the exploration productivity and efficiency under conditions of discovery complication at substantial depths and new exploration and geological environment. A number of radically new fundamental and applied results have been obtained by research institutes of the branch.
The establishment of joint ventures, cooperation with foreign companies in development of deposits, marketing and selling of geological information and scientific research data-packages, bilateral and multilateral scientific and technological cooperation was advanced in 1989. Links in the Earth science between the USSR and the USA, China and Spain are succeed.
The major practical objectives of the USSR Geological Survey proceed as follows:
1. Conversion to planning on the basis of geo-economic modelling and efficient investment policy;
2. Control decentralizing, raising the role of the Geological Survey as the mental managing department, independent economic interests of the producers;
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3. Increase in susceptibility to scientific and technical progress of enterprises;
4. Introduction of competition for institutes for fulfillment of all types of the branch activities;
5. Conversion of the branch in view of geo-environmental studies, establishment of the local mining units and enterprises;
6. Development of new forms of the external economic relations in all spheres of the branch activity;
7. Widespread cooperation with foreign companies in exploitation of the mineral resources of the country.
As a whole the mineral of the USSR meet all the contemporary industrial needs of the country. The USSR is a world leader in the energy resources. The reforms associated with Perestroyka in our country, necessitate the productions increase of these types of raw materials. It will require of course the reserves increment primarily those of oil and gas. It creates the necessary prerequisites for international cooperation both in the sphere of production and exploration on the reserves expended reproduction.
The USSR territory is known to be extremely rich in various types of ore and non-metallic minerals. The reserves of all the elements of the Mendeleev's Table have been identified in the country entrails. The intensive development of geological exploration provided the creation of the powerful mineral base. Recently the rate of development and that of increment of reserves become substantially ahead of the rate of industrial exploitation because of the lag of mining industry.
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Under present social and economic conditions the national policy of the USSR is aimed at effective production of the resources aimed at an increase of consumption and export provision in the economically adequate amount. The main objective to determine the rate is to breakthrough to achieve the world level in per capita consumption of the bulk of raw materials.
These objectives are accomplished with radical changes either qualitative and quantitative in the structure of the USSR mineral base and by intensification of the reserves identification into commercial reserves. They also determine the principal objectives of the state special raw material program as follows:
1. Compensation of mineral production with new discoveries;
2. Infrastructure changes in the country mineral base with regard to producing units distribution, geo-economic factors and economic sovereignty of republics and autonomies;
3. Support for production growth and depreciations reduction in mining industry;
4. Discovery of new deposits with high output and creation of tactical and strategic reserves;
5. Complex utilizing of mineral resources;
6. Research and exploration of non-conventional sources and raw materials;
7. Exploitation of artificial accumulations and sources of mineral ore;
8. Development of geological institutes participation production.
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These tendencies make possible further development of international cooperation with foreign companies and firms to participate in exploration and development of the deposits.
ENERGY RESOURCES. OIL AND GAS
Oil and gas exploration in the USSR was carried out on the basis of scientific evaluation of oil-and-gas potential either on-shore and off-shore. Some 50 oil and gas bearing provinces covering the area of 15.4 million sq.km. are to be discovered in the territory of the USSR. Oil and gas bearing provinces distributed in old and young platforms, which comprise 73% of total promising area and about 99% of total amount of hydrocarbons resources are of primary importance.
Basic tendencies in oil-and-gas exploration progress in the USSR show the gradual removal of major ultra-deep drilling projects and geophysical investigations from the european to the asian part of the country. Ultra-deep exploratory drilling in the USSR increased annually from 4 to 7.9 million m in 1960-1989 generally in Siberia, Central Asia and Kasakhstan while remaining stable in the european economic zone for years. Discovered oil and gas deposits in the USSR exploited irregularly, contain reserves available for further development. Among up-to-date discovered 2214 oil fields only 1205 or 54% were in exploitation now, while the rest are on the way to (5%) or still developing (26%) or being plugged because of economic and other reasons (15%) (slide 1). The irregular industrial exploitation is mostly intrinsic to gas fields where out of 1195 objects only 540 or 45% were now under development (slide 2).
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More than 80% reserves are large and unique oil fields. In excess of 70% of current gas reserves have been concentrated in 21 unique gas fields that in turn with 158 large fields comprise 94% of current gas reserves in the USSR. The same regularity is intrinsic for distribution of oil explored reserves.
An average share of large and unique fields amounted to 11.5% by 1960, mounting up to 15.3% in the 60-ies, that turned into 14% and 10% respectively in 70-ies and 80-ies. It stands to reason that indices evidently show the degree of exploration of the intensively exploited areas.
The major oil and gas bearing Western Siberia megaprovince is confined downwarping zone of the Western Siberia epihercynic Plate (slide 3). Mesozoic-Cenozoic mantle is built up of sand-silt- and muds tone strata. Commercial oil-and-gas reserves are actually distributed over the whole territory in Crefaceous, Jurassic and locally Prejurassic (Paleozoic) deposits. Widening of stratigraphic producting interval because of further exploration of Triassic and Paleozoic horizons is expected. Geological exploration covers all the principal zones in West Siberia ongoing for complicated geological sequences, predominantly...
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