The paper presents data on conodonts and ichthyofauna from sediments of the Lochkovian Stage of the Lower Devonian, discovered in the Orlia 28 borehole, that was drilled in the territory of Belarus within the Podlasie-Brest Depression. Eight conodont taxa and the same number of agnathan and fish taxa were identified. Stratigraphically important species in the identified conodont assemblage are Pandorinellina camelfordensis (Farrell, 2004) and Wurmiella excavata maxima (Drygant, 2010), that are the zonal species of the Borshchovo Regional Stage and are among the index taxa of the Caudicriodus hesperius Zone. Stratigraphically important vertebrate species in the identified ichthyoassemblage are Turinia pagei (Powrie, 1870) and Nikolivia gutta Karatajūtė-Talimaa, 1978. The first species is zonal for deposits of the Borshchovo and Chortkov Regional Stages, and the second species is typical for the Borshchovo Regional Stage.

The results of long-term palynological studies of Nizhnian and Mogilevian deposits of the Belovezhian horizon, as well as the overlying Lower Berezian deposits of the Pleistocene of Belarus, are summarized. The pollen zones identified in these layers are characterized in detail. It is proposed to assign “regional” status to a number of zones. Two new pollen zones are described in sediments of the Nizhnian subhorizon. A reconstruction of the vegetation and climate of the corresponding time intervals was carried out; for some phases, numerical paleotemperature parameters were obtained using the method of combining climatic areas for the first time. Questions about the stratigraphic rank of the studied units are considered.

The results of palynological studies of ancient lacustrine sediments uncovered by boreholes 69.1 and 69.2 near the town of Bykhov in Mogilev region are presented. A detailed description of the local pollen zones identified in the sections is given. Based on this the age of the studied deposits is substantiated. According to the data obtained, their formation occurred during most of the Muravian interglacial and in the subsequent Poozerian time. The phases of vegetation development existed during the considered interval of Pleistocene of Belarus have been reconstructed.

The concept of a “lessoid” in a modern interpretation is considered. Glacial and fluvioglacial deposits are characterized as the parent rocks from which the loessoids of the southeast of Belarus were formed. The time of formation of these formations has been determined as the end of the Dnieper glaciation epoch to the present day. The following are described: distribution, zonal-geological factors of formation and the role of frost and chemical weathering in the transformation of glacial and water-glacial deposits into lessoids. The indicators of physical-chemical, physical and physical-mechanical properties of lessoids are determined and generalized, and their values are compared with similar values of parent rocks. It was found that density, colloidal activity, coefficients of natural compaction and over-compaction, as well as the degree of soil compression, indicators of physical and mechanical properties of lessoids are reduced compared with parent rocks. Accordingly, the numerical values of relative humidity, porosity coefficient, and characteristic humidity are increased. The role of the main hydrophysical characteristic and its hysteresis in the formation of the subsidence of lessoids is considered. The geological hazards associated with lessoids are described.

The development of the Lukoml-1 clay deposit is often accompanied by local landslides and other collapses, despite the safety measures provided for in the operation project. Significant damage was caused by landslides that occurred on mined slopes in the northeastern and eastern parts of the quarry in the spring of 2023. A section of slopes over 700 m in length was subject to landslide deformations. More than 55,000 m3 of soil were involved in the movement. Conducted research, which included analysis of survey data, geological materials; study of the morphology and structure of landslides; water content, physical and physical-mechanical properties of rocks composing landslide slopes; accompanying geological processes and phenomena determined the factors for the occurrence of landslide deformations of slopes in the northeastern and eastern parts of the clay quarry. The main ones among them should be considered natural factors: anomalous precipitation in the winter of 2022/2023, the presence in the immediate vicinity of the quarry slopes of a number of swampy depressions and depressions, and the quasi-homogeneous structure of the clayey soil massif, due to the frequent presence of thin silty soils in the clayey massif veins, as well as layers and lenses of finegrained sand. Recommendations are given to prevent further occurrence and development of landslides on quarry slopes.

The results of study of the δ13C and δ18О values distribution in carbonate containing deposits of the Upper Eifelian (the Kostyukovichi horizon) on the territory of Belarus are adduced. The combination of isotopic values in the Privolje borehole geological section (the North Pripyat Shoulder) has been interpreted as a reflection of the Middle Devonian sea water geochemical evolution at the Eifelian-Zhivetian border. The isotopic signals of activation of the continental water inflow into the sea basin (the North-Polotsk borehole in the southeast of the Latvian Saddle and the GGK-1 borehole in the southwestern edge of the Voronezh Anteclise) as well as evidence of the deposits postdiagenetic alterations in the infiltration atmogenic water environment (the Bykhov borehole within the conjugation zone of the Orsha Depression and Zhlobin Saddle and the Korma borehole in the Zhlobin Saddle) have been revealed.

The paper is devoted to the results of isotopic chemostratigraphy study of the Lower and Middle Devonian deposits in the geological section of the Klimovichi parametric borehole within the Orsha Depression – Voronezh Anteclise junction. Carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonates and sulphur isotopes in gypsum have been analysed. The Upper Emsian Vitebsk horizon, dolomitе and clay-marly rock units of the Middle Eifelian Gorodok horizon are characterized by normal sea δ13C values. The Lower Eifelian Adrov and Osveya horizons and dolomite-marly rock unit of the Gorodok horizon are remarkable with wide δ13C fluctuations (from sea figures to –11,6 ‰). This is due to changing intensity of land water influx into the sea basin when its shallowing, which was accompanied by sulphate sediment forming. The δ18О values in the whole Lower-Middle section fall into the range (–4…–2 ‰) characteristic for the Emsian-Eifelian sea carbonates. This is due to the Belarus territory near-equator location in Devonian and does not contradict the genetic conclusions made under δ13C dynamics consideration. There are two distinct intervals in the gypsum δ34S variation curve. The lower one (the Osveya horizon carbonate-sulphate rock unit, Adrov and Vitebsk horizons and Lower Vendian) is characterized by δ34S values (18,2 ‰ at an average) which are lower than in the upper interval (dolomite-marly rock units of the Gorodok and Osveya horizons) where δ34S values are 21,7 ‰ at an average. This is due to different proportion of land water with isotopically light continental sulphur in gypsum-forming evaporite brines (greater for the lower part of the section than for the upper one) and is in agreement with the δ13C behaviour

The paper is devoted to the discovery of new oil deposits within the Rechitskoe oil field based on the results of the work on additional deposit exploration of the Polotsky horizon and the Lansky superhorizon, taking into account the data of lithofacies analysis. The geological and geophysical data obtained from the results of drilling exploratory and production wells, which confirmed the predictive distribution of oil-productive deposits of the Polotsky horizon and the Lansky superhorizon within the unexplored blocks (eastern and northern) of the Rechitskoe field, that led to the discovery of new oil deposits are briefly analyzed. Thanks to the additional exploration of oil deposits in the PolotskyLansky reservoir and their active involvement in development, annual oil production over the period from 2014 to 2022 increased from 45 to 214 conditional units for the analyzed horizons and recoverable reserves of industrial categories increased from 1100 c. u. to 4000 c. u.

The internal structure of the lower Famennian deposits in the central part of the Bujnovichska-Naraulyanskaya stage of the Pripyat trough is considered by the example of the Elskaya area. The distribution of organic matter and their relationship with the lithological composition of the rock were considered. The dependence of the organic matter distribution on the sediment formation conditions in the paleobasin has been established. The degree of organic matter transformation increases with the dipping of inter-salt deposits and reaches the level of MK1 at absolute mark of minus 4005 m on the terrace of the Bujnovichska-Naraulyanskaya tectonic stage.

In this paper using the example of the petrikovsky deposit of the Geological field an analysis of oil field data was carried out for the manifestation of deformation processes with a decrease in reservoir pressure during the development of oil reserves. Under the influence of deformation processes, a decrease in the oil phase permeability of the formation was established, with a subsequent decrease in the productivity coefficient of the producing well. At the same time, in the process of closing cracks and deforming the skeleton of reservoir rocks, an increase in specific oil production is noted, indicating an increase in the efficiency of oil recovery. The results obtained are consistent with laboratory studies of core material previously carried out at BelNIPIneft to determine the coefficient of oil displacement by water when reservoir pressure decreases, during which increases in the coefficient of oil displacement by water were obtained up to 11,6 %.

The article provides an analysis of hydrochemical and thermohydrodynamic data of inter-salt and upper-salt sediments of the Southern structural-tectonic zone (SSTZ) of the Pripyat trough. Based on the established relationship between hydrochemically homogeneous groups of reservoir brines, reservoir pressure gradients (RPG), and reservoir temperatures, a spatial hydrogeochemical model of inter-salt and upper salt-bearing sediments was constructed. An optimal set of local hydrogeochemical criteria for assessing the prospects of oil and gas potential of inter-salt and upper salt deposits of the SSTZ is proposed, background concentrations of macro- and micro-components of the natural hydrochemical field are substantiated. The analysis of the prospects for the oil and gas potential of the section is carried out.
The results are recommended for assessing the prospects of oil and gas potential of the famennian deposits of the SSTZ of the Pripyat trough and for operational evaluation of the results of testing.

The article examines the history of the paleotectonic development of the Valava area within the Southern structural-tectonic zone of the Pripyat trough on the basis of the author›s methodology, which includes eight stages: stratigraphic breakdown of the sedimentary cover, selection of “reference” layers and marking horizons, structural constructions, thickness analysis, geological profile plotting, construction of a series of paleotectonic profiles, construction of an isopach triangle, analysis of local objects and large structural elements.
Based on the performed complex analysis, potentially oil-bearing objects were identified with organization of work in the following order: Yuzhno-Liplyanskaya (upper salt and inter-salt complexes), Yuzhno-Valavskaya (intersalt complex), Novo-Grebenevskaya (upper salt complex), Novo-Liplyanskaya (upper salt complex) oil fields in the Southern structural-tectonic zone.

The article provides a detailed description of the process of selecting objects for implementing the surfactantpolymer (SP) flooding technology in the Pripyat trough oil fields. The selection process involves choosing the optimal SP composition to enhance oil recovery efficiency at the selected site. The article presents the results of conducting filtration experiments. The work comprises systematic research on the petrophysical properties of hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Pripyat trough, the chemical structure of oil, followed by an analysis of the stability of the dispersion system and the probability of solid phase formation. The study also includes the selection and optimization of surfactants and polymers, with subsequent testing of the chosen SP composition on core models of the reservoir

The abiogenic concept of the origin of oil is confirmed by an increasing number of facts and is gaining new supporters among petroleum geologists. At the same time, prospecting for oil is carried out according to principles that are based on the biotic concept. The article presents reasoning on need of changes in the approaches to oil and gas exploration, taking into account possibility of their deep origin, and considers the role of tectonic dislocations and fracturing in the process of fluid migration. The basics of oil migration are briefly revealed and the forces that favor and hinder the movement of reservoir fluids in the void space of rocks are indicated. The impossibility of lateral migration of oil over any significant distance is substantiated, which fundamentally refutes the “sedimentary migration theory”. The key points that form the basis of new approaches to geological exploration are outlined.