Widespread natural methane and oil leakage from sub-marine Arctic reservoirs

Parceling the anthropogenic and natural (geological) sources of fossil methane in the atmosphere remains problematic due to a lack of distinctive chemical markers for their discrimination. In this light, understanding the distribution and contribution of potential geological methane sources is important. We present empirical observations of hitherto undocumented, widespread and extensive methane and oil release from geological reservoirs to the Arctic Ocean. Methane fluxes from >7,000 seeps significantly deplete in seawater, but nevertheless reach the sea surface and may transfer to the air. Oil slick emission spots and gas ebullition are persistent across multi-year observations and correlate to formerly glaciated geological structures, which have experienced km-scale glacial erosion that has left hydrocarbon reservoirs partially uncapped since the last deglaciation ~15,000 years ago. Such persistent, geologically controlled, natural hydrocarbon release may be characteristic of formerly glaciated hydrocarbon-bearing basins which are common across polar continental shelves, and could represent an underestimated source of natural fossil methane within the global carbon cycle.

Middle devonian-lower frasnian natural hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Pechora Sea shelf and Timan-Pechora oil and gas province adjacent area

The research is based on the three-layer natural hydrocarbon reservoirs theory, which allocates 3 layers in a natural reservoir – the genuine seal, the productive part and the intermediate layer situated between them - the false seal. The Middle Ordovician-Lower Frasnian terrigenous complex variable in thickness, composition and stratigraphic completeness sub-regional natural reservoir was identified in the northern part of the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province adjacent to the Pechora Sea. It includes several zonal and local natural reservoirs (Middle Ordovician-Lower Devonian, Middle Ordovician-Eiffelian, Zhivetian-Lower Frasnian and others). The distribution areas of these natural reservoirs were extrapolated to the Pechora Sea offshore. The areas with the highest prospects of oil and gas potential of the Pechora Sea offshore were delineated, basing on the Timan-Pechora oil and gas potential analysis. These are the northwest extensions into the Pechora Sea of the Denisov trough, the Kolva megaswell, as well as the Varandei-Adzva structural zone and the Karotaiha depression. Keywords: natural reservoir; genuine seal; false seal; field; pool; hydrocarbons.

Biodiversity and biocatalyst activity of culturable hydrocarbonoclastic fungi isolated from Marac–Moruga mud volcano in South Trinidad

Mud volcanoes (MVs) are visible signs of oil and gas reserves present deep beneath land and sea. The Marac MV in Trinidad is the only MV associated with natural hydrocarbon seeps. Petrogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in its sediments must undergo biogeochemical cycles of detoxification as they can enter the water table and aquifers threatening ecosystems and biota. Recurrent hydrocarbon seep activity of MVs consolidates the growth of hydrocarbonoclastic fungal communities. Fungi possess advantageous metabolic and ecophysiological features for remediation but are underexplored compared to bacteria. Additionally, indigenous fungi are more efficient at PAH detoxification than commercial/foreign counterparts and remediation strategies remain site-specific. Few studies have focused on hydrocarbonoclastic fungal incidence and potential in MVs, an aspect that has not been explored in Trinidad. This study determined the unique biodiversity of culturable fungi from the Marac MV capable of metabolizing PAHs in vitro and investigated their extracellular peroxidase activity to utilize different substrates ergo their extracellular oxidoreductase activity (> 50% of the strains decolourized of methylene blue dye). Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes (89% combined incidence) were predominantly isolated. ITS rDNA sequence cluster analysis confirmed strain identities. 18 indigenous hydrocarbonoclastic strains not previously reported in the literature and some of which were biosurfactant-producing, were identified. Intra-strain variability was apparent for PAH utilization, oil-tolerance and hydroxylase substrate specificity. Comparatively high levels of extracellular protein were detected for strains that demonstrated low substrate specificity. Halotolerant strains were also recovered which indicated marine-mixed substrata of the MV as a result of deep sea conduits. This work highlighted novel MV fungal strains as potential bioremediators and biocatalysts with a broad industrial applications.

AUTOMATIC LINEAMENTS MAPPING AND EXTRACTION IN RELATIONSHIP TO NATURAL HYDROCARBON SEEPAGE IN UGWUEME, SOUTH-EASTERN NIGERIA

The study focus on the integration of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System for identification and delineation of lineaments in relation to natural hydrocarbon seepage, which occur in Ugwueme, South-Eastern Nigeria. To achieve this objective, remotely sensed data (ASTER Digital Elevation Model and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS) were used to depict the surface expression of faults, folds and fractures which are expressed in the form of lineaments. The global positioning system (GPS) was also used for ground verification. The geology map of the study area, which is elucidated in the geology of Nigeria was used to show the distribution of rocks and other geologic structures. The delineation of lineament features was done automatically with the PCI Geomatica while the Rock ware was used to generate the Rose diagram for demonstration of the direction of the extracted lineaments. The classification of the lineaments density and the lineaments intersection analysis were categorized as very low, low, moderate, high and very high classes respectively. Areas classified as very high to high lineaments density are potential zone, which act as conduits for hydrocarbon seepage. The result shows that a total lineament frequency of 947 km and a total lineament length of 946 km were delineated from the satellite data. The result further shows that areas with high lineaments density are concentrated in the southwest, south, central and northern part of the study area while areas with low lineament density were found within the eastern part of Ugwueme. The Rose diagram highlight the major trend in the (NE-SW), (N-S) and (NW-SE) directions, and the minor trend in the (W-E) direction. These directional trends depict the directions of lineaments which act as conduits zones for hydrocarbon seepage in the region. The overall findings of the study shows that lineament density, lineament intersection and rose diagrams are concepts applicable in hydrocarbon oil and gas seepages.

Diagnosis of the Concentration of the Colombian Upstream Market Sector and Proposals for Increased Competitiveness

Given the importance of the O&G sector (exports, national budget, royalties, etc.) in the economy of countries that possess this natural resources and the increased exposure of the economy of these to the cyclical dynamics of the O&G industry, it becomes necessary unequivocally an analysis and comparison of the most used market concentration measures applicable to the upstream framework that affect the distribution of oil production and reserves to determine proposals for an increase in competitiveness, in this case analyzing the metrics in the range 2004-2016 in Colombia. The process starts from collecting the most reliable information from different associations, regulators and sources, calculating the most used market concentration measures, considering assumptions for the statistical analysis of the data as tests of normality (Shapiro-WilK Test) and then analysis and comparison of the HHI as measure of concentration of the E&P upstream market in Colombia obtained conclusions and recommendations. Ideal values were determined and recommended according to better HHI references that would imply a less concentrated upstream sector and competitive advantage to the country regionally to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). An alienation and division of National oil company- NOC from the Colombian state is proposed, divide upstream into 3 E&P companies plus 1 Midstream Transporting Company + 1 Downstream Refining Company, it is recommended given the opportunity of a possible development of unconventional resources in the country, and the economic uncertainty at the beginning of these developments, that the opportunities for pilots and initial projects be by law and in principle distributed among various private E&P operators or in associations of the state company with experienced operators, this would distribute the exploratory risk of the projects, improve the sector's competitiveness and avoid unnecessary investment exposure to the state in these ventures. The objectives, methods, processes and results obtained can be homologated to other countries with NOC, showing a direct roadmap to follow so that the economic associated with natural hydrocarbon resources allow us to further leverage the development of societies in general, but mainly developing countries rich in these resources in an environment of low prices and increasing competitiveness.