The Bazhenov Formation or Bazhenov Shale is a geological stratum in the West Siberian basin. It was formed from sediment deposited in a deep-water sea in

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by t ...

–early Berriasian time. The sea covered more than one million square kilometers in the central basin area. Highly organic-rich siliceous shales were deposited during this time in anoxic conditions on the sea bottom. The sea was connected to the world's oceans and contains trace minerals derived from dissolved minerals and organic materials similar to sapropel sediments in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

. In addition to being a prolific deep water marine source rock (the

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, wit ...

has called it the world's largest oil source rock) the formation is believed to contain substantial reserves of unconventional liquid hydrocarbons in form of tight oil and solid hydrocarbons in form of kerogen. These deposits occur at depths of with the thickness from . An estimate by Wood Mackenzie of the Bazhenov Formation puts oil in place at . In 2013, the Russian oil company

Rosneft PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petrol ...

estimated recoverable reserves of for the formation. The Russian government agency Rosnedra estimated in 2012 that the Bazhenov contained 180 to 360 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.Nadia Rodova
Will Russia replicate US success in tight oil development?
Platts, 23 August 2012. According to

U.S. Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and publ ...

estimates published in June 2013, the total Bazhenov shale prospective area has a resource of a risked tight oil in-place of and a risked shale gas in-place of , with of oil and of gas as the risked, technically recoverable. Total hydrocarbon resources are estimated in 50 to 150 billion tonnes.

References

{{Coord missing, Russia Geologic formations of Russia Geology of Siberia Jurassic System of Asia Lower Cretaceous Series of Asia Cretaceous Russia Jurassic Russia Berriasian Stage Tithonian Stage Shale formations Source rock formations Oil fields of Russia