3rd International Scientific and Practical Conference on Carbonate Sediments and 10th Kazan Golovkinsky Stratigraphic Meeting
The two events tale place at the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies from 12th to 14th August.
Participants include representatives of Russian and international universities, research organizations, and businesses, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. The unifying theme of the conferences, which are being held simultaneously for the first time, is the Kama-Kinel Trough System (KKTS).
Along with KFU, the co-organizers of the scientific events include the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ecology-Geology-Oil Foundation, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (KFU SPE Student Chapter), the Association of Geologists, Geophysicists, and Engineers, and industrial partners.
Participants’ presentations focused on key areas of modern geology: petroleum geology and field development, paleontology and stratigraphy, mineralogy, lithology, and petrophysics. For the first time, the scientific forum program included presentations on geological education and geological research methodology.
Danis Nurgaliev, Chairman of the Carbonate Sediments Conference Organizing Committee and Vice-Rector for Earth Sciences at Kazan Federal University, welcomed the participants and highlighted the unique features of each conference.
“The Kazan Golovkinsky Stratigraphic Meeting is dedicated to the outstanding Russian geologist Nikolai Golovkinsky, whom we call the Einstein of geology, as he discovered the law describing the relationship between space and time in geology. The facies law formulated by Golovkinsky underlies the modern scientific field of sequence stratigraphy,” Nurgaliev stated. “The second conference is dedicated to carbonate deposits, from which oil and gas production is extremely challenging for a number of reasons. Although these rocks make up only 15 percent of the total volume of sedimentary rocks, they contain approximately 45 percent of all oil, and this oil is typically difficult to extract. The goal of our conference is to create a platform where employees from various companies can discuss the challenges of developing carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs with representatives of the scientific community, as well as their proposals, achievements, and technologies. One of the goals of the conference is to unite and organize a carbonate consortium. I believe this is very important, as we are extracting more and more mineral reserves from carbonate rocks every year.”
Dmitry Guskov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan, noted that the exchange of experience between conference participants will contribute to economic development.
“Tatarstan contains significant oil reserves in carbonate reservoirs. Tatneft and the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies has accumulated extensive experience in developing and exploring such reservoirs and is ready to share this experience,” said Guskov. “I wish everyone mutually beneficial contacts, exchange of experience, and the development of our companies for the benefit of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation.”
Albert Bachkov, Head of the Department of Geology and Oil and Gas Field Development at Tatneft, also wished the conference participants success, noting that he received his geology degree from Kazan University.
Ildus Chukmarov, Deputy Director for Continuing Education and Industrial Partnerships at IGPT, recommended that those present make use of the opportunities offered by KFU, including the Center for Advanced Training (CdoGEO). He also emphasized the importance of sharing experiences.
“Knowledge must be expanded and disseminated,” Chukmarov emphasized. “You are a professional community. No one is more knowledgeable about stratigraphy and carbonate deposits than you. Our center is at your disposal. Let’s turn your experience into ‘diamonds’ – open distance learning courses. This way, you can share your expertise with students across Russia. It’s important to preserve the unique experience you have, and to do so, it must be accessible to young professionals and students in the form of open educational resources.”
Following the official ceremony, the Carbonate Deposits conference began. It is being held under a federal budget subsidy to higher education institutions for the implementation of events aimed at supporting student research communities.
The panel discussion Modern Approaches to Carbonate Research was held, followed by participants sharing their research results and experiences in the breakout sessions, Carbonate Geology, Study Methodology and Laboratory Research, and Well Development, Drilling, and Surveying.
Kirill Shumatbaev, chief expert in petrophysical research in the Field Development Department of Tatneft-Dobycha, a Tatneft company, participated in the panel discussion and moderated the Carbonate Geology section.
“During the discussion, moderated by Alexander Shandrygin, chief researcher at Gazprom VNIIGAZ, and attended by representatives of the companies and Kazan University, we discussed issues related to the study of carbonate deposits, discussed the multi-scale nature of research, and discussed their compatibility,” he explained. “I participate in the conference every year; it’s interesting because it allows us to discuss the issues and solutions to the challenges we face.”
On 13th August, Alexander Borisov, Head of the Laboratory of Unconventional Reservoirs Petrophysics at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, delivered plenary presentations (Ensuring the Unity of Methodological Approaches in the Study of Carbonate Sediments. Problems and Possible Solutions) and Valentina Zhemchugova, Scientific Director of the Geological Faculty of Moscow State University, delivered a presentation (Practical Application of Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis in Modeling the Structure and Properties of Carbonate Reservoirs). Oil Barrel, a specialized board game, was also shown to the public.
On the final day, 14th August, the Kazan Golovkinsky Stratigraphic Meeting conference is being held. Its topics include Stratigraphy, Paleontology: Fundamental and Applied Aspects, Mineralogy, Lithology, Geophysical Methods, and Mineral Resources, Sedimentary Basins, Hydrocarbon Potential, Paleoclimate, Paleogeography, and Geochemistry.
Among those presenting a paper at the Kazan Golovkinsky Stratigraphic Meeting is Nikolai Shushkevich, a leading engineer at the All-Russian Research Geological Petroleum Institute (Moscow).
“I work in the department of methodological support for seismic and logging data processing,” he said. “My paper is titled Potentials of Kinematic Inversion in Studying the Sediment Structure of the Kama-Kinel Trough System (using the Aktanysh-Chishminsky Paleo-Trough as an Example). I’ll be discussing how interval velocities obtained from seismic data can be used to predict lithology and identify hydrocarbon-rich targets.”