Up until the time of the decision of Rosstandart Order no. 490-st of July 7, 2023, to include hydrogen in the All-Russia Classifier of Mineral Resources, no geological or economic possibilities of the industrial development of hydrogen resources had been analyzed in Russia. Moreover, hydrogen, extracted from the earth, has been studied extremely poorly. The current situation requires the accelerated development of the concept of searching for hydrogen on the basis of scientific substantiation of the most promising regional areas. In this work, our vision of this problem and propose possible solutions are provided. In particular, the reasons for organizing scientific and technological hydrogen sites are assessed, including (i) the development of theoretical ideas about a role of hydrogen in the evolution of the Earth; (ii) working out in detail the mechanisms of hydrogen localization in the geological setting; (iii) the development of criteria and methods for geological and economic assessment of hydrogen search, exploration and production; and (iv) geological and commercial research at the most promising sites for the development and testing of the methods to search for occurrences of hydrogen and related minerals.

The article considers aspects of chemical reactions in samples of Shchelkovsky UGS reservoir water when pumping hydrogen as a result of electrical action. The increased hydrogen content in geological formations may contribute to oxidation and reduction reactions that lead to hydrogen oxidation and electron acceptor recovery (NO3-, Fe3+, SO2- and CO2-). Keywords: electrostatic action; hydrogen injection; underground gas storage; Ph; Eh.

Storage of hydrogen (methane–hydrogen mixtures) in geological formations has advantages in the potential injection volumes and cost parameters of production operations compared to its placement in ground-based artificial reservoirs. However, it involves a potential risk of undesirable hydrochemical and microbiological reactions leading to hydrogen loss, carbon dioxide production, geochemical transformations of reservoir rocks, corrosion of well equipment. The present article presents the results of the prediction of the aforementioned events for the underground storage of methane–hydrogen mixtures in aquifers containing highly mineralized reservoir water. Such an analysis is also important for assessing the effects of hybrid hydrogen and methane storage in salt caves.

The article is devoted to the development of the theoretical foundations of the search for mega-reservoirs of oil and gas in various geological and tectonic settings. The author’s understanding of the term «megareservoir of oil and gas» is formulated as a large-sized reservoir of oil and gas, which has productive intervals brought together within a single oil and gas layer, a large volume of oil and gas saturated space, high fluidity of the geological environment, improved capacitive-filtration properties, hydrodynamic connectivity (or overlapping) accumulation zones and centers of oil and gas generation, geofluid dynamic heterogeneity of the geological environment. The contribution of the multi-scale organization of the uvosphere and underground hydrosphere to the formation of the properties of megareservoirs as oil and gas localizing objects is considered. Differences in the geofluid dynamic mechanisms for filling reservoirs under conditions of hydrodynamically (quasi)open and (quasi)closed systems are substantiated. Keywords: oil and gas mega-reservoirs; geofluid-dynamic heterogeneity; oil and gas bearing stage; hydrocarbon system; reservoir pressures.

The article reveals the experience of creating digital control systems to improve the efficiency of the gas transport system. Digital modernization of the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia based on innovative developments, domestic software and hardware and digital competencies of engineering and technical personnel increases the competitiveness of the digital gas economy. Integrated objects of the Unified Gas Supply System are information, processes, personnel and organizational structures. The strategy for the development of a Unified Gas Supply system is aimed at introducing innovative approaches to the formation of a new base of regulatory documents on technical regulation and standardization. The digital gas transport management system increases operational efficiency and reduces costs at all stages of the life cycle of a Unified Gas Supply System.

The use of digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) methods in the oil and gas industry is a tool for ensuring economic efficiency, preserving competencies and human potential, contributes to the growth of the resource base, the implementation of design regimes and the extension of production at the final stage of operation of oil and gas fields. The driver of digitalization of the oil and gas industry is fierce competition in the global gas market and in the future only companies that are seriously and permanently engaged in investing in fundamental and applied research in the field of digital modernization of production will develop. The complex project «Digital and technological modernization of the world’s largest West Siberian Gas Production Center» has been prepared on the basis of the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation; it corresponds to the priorities and goals of state policy in the implementation of comprehensive scientific and technical programs of the full innovation cycle and involves the creation of highly efficient key components of the unified intellectual field line based on technologies that ensure economic and technological independence of digital production and creation of high-tech products and services in demand in the domestic and foreign gas markets. Keywords: program; information; innovation; transformation; cycle; modernization; economy; digital platform; oil and gas field.

Summary The paper describes the analysis of the microbiological specification and hydrochemical characteristics of the UGS facility located in the aquifer of the Moscow hydrogeological basin. A low abundance of aerobic organotrophic bacteria and anaerobic fermentative, denitrifying and sulfate-reducing bacteria in samples of formation water from UGS waters was shown. A high representation of bacteria of the genus Marinobacter, corresponding to the marine genesis of stratal waters, was noted. This testifies to the insignificant anthropogenic impact on the geological environment of the long-term operation of the Gdov horizon and the ecological reliability of the operating technologies used. Microbiological monitoring and zoning of the UGS territory according to the prevalence of the most typical microbiological communities will contribute to quality control during the operation of the UGS facility.

— Underground natural gas storage facilities (UGS) have been recently proposed as sites to store “green” gas containing biogas, synthetic methane, and molecular hydrogen. The composition of the UGS microbial communities and the effect of H 2 on these communities are poorly understood. This work deals with determination of microbial diversity in the samples of reservoir water from the underground horizons of the Shchelkovo, Kasimov, and Kaluga UGS. Groundwater is an anaerobic habitat containing acetic and other lower fatty acids, methanol, and dissolved gases that may serve as substrates for microorganisms. Low abundance of cultivated aerobic organotrophic bacteria and anaerobic fermenting, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic microorganisms in the studied samples was shown. High-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the presence of Firmicutes (2.4–53.6%), Bacteroidetes (1.0–39.7%), Alphaproteobacteria (0.9–9.6%), Actinobacteria (0.1–1.7%), Desulfobacteria (0.1–1.6%), Verrucomicrobia (0–3.4%), and Planctomycetes (0–1.3%) in the studied microbial communities. The share of archaeal sequences in the libraries did not exceed 1.5%. In the water sample from the Kaluga UGS, members of the genus Marinobacter predominated; methanogens of the genera Methanosphaera , Methanolobus , and Methanobrevibacter were found among the minor components. Methylotrophic bacteria of the genera Methylococcus and Methylobacterium‒Methylorubrum and anaerobic fermenting bacteria of the genus Bacteroides predominated in the reservoir water from the Shchelkovo and Kasimov UGSs. Using the iVikodak program, the potential ability of microbial communities to use methane, methanol, benzoate, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as to participate in the transformations of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, was shown. In the underground communities, bacteria and archaea were found, potentially capable of using H 2 in their energy metabolism, including the processes of sulfate reduction, methanogenesis and acetogenesis. These results indicate that microbiological and geochemical monitoring is required during the operation of UGS, especially during the injection of hydrogen.

The storage of methane-hydrogen mixtures (MHM) in existing underground gas storage facilities (UGS) is a prerequisite for the development of a "carbonneutral" strategy of the Russian Federation. The use of technologies for storage and delivery of MHM in industrial volumes should be ensured by experimental research, the creation of a regulatory framework and the introduction of modern methods for maintaining the operational reliability of the existing Unified Gas Transportation System (UGSS). The need for scientific and project work is determined by the peculiarities of the storage of MHM and the assessment of the likelihood of negative technogenic and mechanical consequences during the operation of the equipment. The materials provide the main risk models of the processes that arise in the case of hybrid storage of MHM. The use of cluster technology for storage and transportation of MHM is proposed, and the need to ensure constant monitoring of the component composition of gas as part of the implementation of an integrated automated flow technology is shown. Keywords: methane-hydrogen mixtures; hydrogen energy; underground gas storage; hardware control; risks.

Summary Underground natural gas storage facilities are subject to hydrochemical and microbiological processes that stimulate the manifestation of effects in relation to reservoir rocks, as well as to engineering downhole and surface equipment. The authors of the systematic work on the analysis of microbiological and hydrochemical stratal aquifer underground storage located mainly in the Shchigrovsky aquifer of the Moscow hydrogeological basin. The purpose of the research is to study the microbiological background in relation to hydrogeological conditions to assess the impact of technogenic load on the geological environment and the degree of occurrence of negative processes.

Summary The novelty of the implemented solutions lies in the improvement of drilling technologies based on the application of modeling algorithms and finding the optimal network configuration to perform a reliable forecast based on the artificial neural network model. Without comprehensive automation, it is impossible to reduce the role of personnel, which implies the robotization of part of the drilling process and technologies of descent operations. The presented concept of a geographically distributed system of intelligent monitoring and management is easily adaptable to various technological processes when working in emergency situations due to information support of construction processes. The introduction of technologies provides a reduction in operating costs, an increase in gas and oil production of about 10% and a reduction in well downtime of at least 50 % from the classic technologies of drilling, construction and operation in remote fields.

The article is devoted to the development of a hybrid method for predicting and preventing the development of troubles in the process of drilling wells based on machine learning methods and modern neural network models. Troubles during the drilling process, such as filtrate leakoff; gas, oil and water shows and sticking, lead to an increase in unproductive time, i.e. time that is not technically necessary for well construction and is caused by various violations of the production process. Several different approaches have been considered, including based on the regression model for predicting the indicator function, which reflects an approach to a developing trouble, as well as anomaly extraction models built both on basic machine learning algorithms and using the neural network model of deep learning. Showing visualized examples of the work of the developed methods on simulation and real data. Intelligent analysis of Big Geodata from geological and technological measurement stations is based on well-proven machine learning algorithms. Based on these data, a neural network model was proposed to prevent troubles and emergencies during the construction of wells. The use of this method will minimize unproductive drilling time.