Formation and development of petroleum geology in Russia and USSR: place and role of VNIIGAZ
Rise of petroleum geology in Russia and USSR was in the middle and second half of the 20th century. In the 1950th and 1960th, works of I.O. Brod, N.B. Vassoevich, A.A. Kartsev, V.P. Savchenko, V.A. Sokolov, V.A. Uspensky were of great importance for petroleum geology. In the 1960th, scientific schools in a number of research institutes were created within the framework of the national petroleum geology, they were: VNIGRI, IGiRGI, VNIIGAZ, VNIIYaGG, MGU, VNIGRI, SNIIGGiMS, IGIG SO RAN, ZapSibNIGNI, etc. Many ideas, concepts, teachings on the formation, evolution and location of oil and gas accumulations, and possible hydrocarbon resources were first suggested and taken further in the works of Russian researchers and, in particular, VNIIGAZ specialists. The paper in historical perspective traces activities of VNIIGAZ Geological Survey on establishing and developing the national petroleum geology. Place and role of geologists in all the areas of hydrocarbon ontogenesis in substantiation of targeted exploration and prospecting of gas pools and fields, in discovery of gas giants, in assessment of amount and structure of initial potential in-place resources of nonassociated gas and oil, in development of resource base for gas production in certain key regions and in the country as a whole are noted. Geologists of Gazprom VNIIGAZ developed the original concepts of hydrocarbon fields and pools formation for many provinces, above all are the West Siberian (land and shelf of the Kara Sea), Amudaryinsky, Pre-Caucasian-Mangyshlaksky, Pre-Caspian, the Barents Sea, etc.; and overseas - the North Sea, Arabian-Persian provinces, a number of Chinese petroleum basins, Australia, etc. Over the past 70 years, Gazprom VNIIGAZ scientific schools and lines of research contributed greatly to successful development of the national petroleum geology