Assessment of hard-to-recover oil reserves production potential in Tomsk region

Abstract

The development of the licensed areas, profound geological exploration, enhanced oil recovery due to innovative technologies introduction and revitalization of oil production from unconventional horizons could significantly increase the oil production in the Tomsk region. This article deals with the issue of oil producing companies’ affairs of the Tomsk region for the past 10 years and proves the oil production potential growth through the development of both conventional and hard-to-recover unconventional oil reserves, concentrated in the Bazhenov and Tyumen Formations, as well as in the Lower Jurassic sediments. The Russian Federation is far behind from the economically developed countries, especially from the United States, in the exploitation of hard-to-recover unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The «shale revolution» was determined by a complex of financial and tax incentives introduced for oil and gas companies. However, this was mainly beneficial for medium and small sized companies. Therefore, both the business entities and regional authorities should increase the investments spending, as well as introduce the additional tax incentives considering the quality and type of potentially available raw hydrocarbons produced in the region, in contrast to the declared benefits in the territory of Eastern Siberia. The introduction of tax incentives justified by the authors, and the implementation of public-private partnership mechanism will ensure the profitability of marginal and hard-to-recover deposits development of the Tomsk region in the long run, which in its turn, should ensure the stability of the economic development of the reviewed subject of the Russian Federation.