Regularities in the Location of Oil and Gas Reserves on the Margins of the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract—The article considers the distribution of oil and gas reserves in the Phanerozoic section and the concentration of dispersed organic matter (C_org) in order to establish a relationship between them. A clearly expressed direct relationship has been established between the values of oil reserves and C_org concentration for the overwhelming majority of Phanerozoic age units. Most of the oil reserves in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean are confined to Lower Cretaceous–Upper Jurassic strata, which contain the highest concentrations of organic matter (OM). Consequently, the main oil source sequences of the oceanic sector of the stratisphere are simultaneously the main oil-bearing complexes of the sedimentary cover section of the source rocks. Confinement of the main of combustible gas reserves to Permian age sequences, characterized by a low of C_org content, is controlled genetically by the processes of the main phase of gas formation prevailing in sediments of this age. In addition, the formation of significant gas reserves in Permian deposits is apparently favored by the spreading of evaporite bodies with good gas-resistant properties at depth in a number of continental margins. The increase in proven gas reserves from Upper Cretaceous to Neogene deposits is obviously associated with the widespread development of a gas-generation zone under recent conditions corresponding to the stages of diagenesis and early catagenesis of OM.