Vladimir Porfiriev

Memorial desk to Prof. Vladimir B. Porfiriev at the entrance to Institute of Geological Sciences, Kiev

Vladimir Borisovich Porfiryev Template:Lang-ru (Vyatka, now Kirov in Russia, June 26, 1899–Kiev, January 30, 1982) was a Russian and Ukrainian petroleum and coal geologist, one of the major proponents of the theory of Abiogenic petroleum origin.

Born in the family of the Zemstvo demorgapher and graduated from 1st Vyatka Gymnasium in 1918 and then worked for local demographic bureau. In 1919 as a volunteer Porfiriev enrolled to Red Army and took part in the Russian Civil War. After demobilisation he went up to the Perm University and then transferred to Exploration Faculty of the Petrograd Mining Institute where he graduated in 1926.

Being a student he started his geological and research career in the State Geological Committee in 1924 and worked first for their West Siberia Section and then for Petroleum one (now VNIGRI). Since 1929 he worked for 9 years as a geologits and head of the Central Asia Secion at All-Union Petroleum Research Geoexploration Institute (VNIGRI), and a foreman for Central oblasts of Russian SFSR. Without defending a thesis he received PhD and professor degree in 1937. Next year he defended Dr. Sc. dissertation in Geology and Mineralogy entitled "Formation conditions of the Cental Asia oil fields" and headed studies on hydrocarbon potential evaluation at Inst. of Geological Scienses of Ukrainian SSR Ac. Sci. in Kiev. From 1939 to 1941 he prelected to students of Geological Faculty in Kiev State University. In the beginning of WW II he was called up for military service in Red Army but soon was demobilized and sent to Geological Institute of Uzbek SSR Ac. Sci. in Tashkent where he worked as senior researcher till 1944. Then he come back to Kiev and headed the Petroleum Dept. at Inst. of Geological Sciences.

File:Porfiriev.jpg

Academician NAS of Ukraine, Vladimir B. Porfiriev (1899-1982)

New phase of his career has started with his relocation to Lviv, Western Ukraine, in 1945. Here he organized Lviv Branch of Institute of Geological Sciences, Lviv Seological Society, Oil and Gas Fields Geology and Exploration Dept. at Lviv Polytech Inst. the first Ukrainian college for petroleum engineers, and Physical Geology Dept. at Lviv State University. Under his guidance the Branch has become the Inst. for Geology of Useful Minerals (1951), which was transformed into Inst. of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals (1962). Prof. Porfiriev headed that institute till 1963 when he was nominated to the post of Director for Institute of Geological Sciences in Kiev. Since 1970 he headed the Department of Geology and Genesis of Oil and Gas fields at this institute.

Corresponding Member (1951) and Academician (1957) of Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences. A laureate of State Award of Ukrainian SSR (1971), and Vernadsky Award (1980). Received state orders of Labor Red Banner (1947), Lenin (1957), October Revolution (1979) and three medals. Porfiriev supervised 30 Ph.D. and 8 Dr. Sc. researches. Among his pupils are Academicians G.N. Dolenko and S.I. Subbotin, Corresponding Members of the Academy V.I. Kityk and N.R. Ladyzhensky, Dr. Sc. in Chemistry I.V. Greenberg, Drs. Sc. in Geology and Mineralogy R.S. Kopystyansky, V.A. Krayushkin, and V.F. Linetsky. Edited scientific journals "Reports of Ukrainian SSR Ac. Sci.", and "Geological Journal". Member of Earth Sciences Division at Presidium of the Academy from 1963 to 1968. He published 262 research works, including many monographs.

Selected publications

Porfiriev V.B., 1930. Miut ozokerite deposit (Cheleken Island). - News GGRU, vol. 49, no. 8. - pp. 71-94 (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1932. Oil field of the Boya-Dag and Syrtlan-Li Mts. and problems of its exploration. Proc. NIGRI, Series B, Fasc. 11. with a map. - pp. 1-21 (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1933. Iodine-bromide formation waters of Turkmenia. - Moscow, Soviet Asia Press. - 79 p. (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1938. Oil in Tajikistan (Formation conditions). - Moscow and Leningrad, USSR Ac. Sci. Publ. - 134 p. (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1948. Metamorphism of carbofossils. - Lviv, Lviv Univ. Publ. - 183 p. (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B. and Linetsky V.F. Problems of oil migration. - Kharkov, Kharkov Univ. Publ. - 163 p. (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1959. The speech in the discussion. In: Problems of oil migration and forming of oil and gas accumulations. - Moscow, GosTopTechIzdat. - pp. 165-193 (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., 1961. On the nature of oil. Proc. Lviv Geol. Soc., no. 7-8. - p. 13-38 (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B, and Greenberg I.V., 1962. On the problem with techniques to study source rocks. In: Theoretical issues of petroleum geology. - Kiev, Ukrainian SSR Ac. Sci. Publ. - p. 5-25 (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., and Sozansky V.I., 1969. New trends for oil exploration. News of Ukrainian SSR Ac. Sci., no. 8. - pp. 32-40 (in Russian)

Porfir'ev V.B., 1974. Inorganic origin of petroleum. - AAPG Bull., vol. 58, no. 1. - pp. 3-33

Porfir'ev V.B., 1974. Geology and genesis of salt formations (a review on monograph by Sozansky V.I.). - AAPG Bull., vol. 58, no. 12. - pp. 2543-2544

Porfiriev V.B., Dolenko G.N., Sollogub V.B. et al., 1975. Geological structure and development of platform areas in Ukraine and Northwest Africa in the context of hydrocarbon potential of the basement formations. - Kiev, Naukova Dumka Publ. - 200 p. (in Russian)

Porfiriev V.B., Krayushkin V.A., and Klochko V.P., 1982. Prospective trends in development of abiogenic oil concept. News of Ukrainian SSR Ac. Sci., no. 11. - pp. 38-42 (in Ukrainian)

Porfiriev V.B., and Klochko V.P., 1982. Geological aspects of hydrocarbon productivity from the basement formations (West Siberia basin case study). In: Peculiarities of Earth's deep crust structure and theoretical substantiation of inoraganic genesis of petroleum. - Kiev, Naukova Dumka Publ. - p. 5-155 (in Russian)

Also

Porfiriev V.B., 1987. The nature of oil, gas, and carbofossils. Selected works. Volume I: Caustobioliths, oil and coal, 224 p. and Volume II: Abiogenic oil, 216 p. (in Russian)

Vladimir Borisovich Porfiriev. Scientist, Geologist, Teacher, Person. P.F. Gozhyk, Ed. - Kiev, IGS NASU Publ., 2000. - 364 p. (in Russian and English)

Petroleum in the basement of sedimentary basins. Krayushkin V.A., Ed. - Kiev, EKMO Publ. House, 2005. - 256 p.

See also

• Abiogenic petroleum origin
• VNIGRI
• Institute of Geological Sciences, NAS of Ukraine, Kiev
• Geological Faculty, Kiev University (in Ukrainian)
• Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals, NAS of Ukraine, Lviv
• Subbotin Institute of Geophysics, NAS of Ukraine, Kiev