Up to 90% of oil is not extracted from the subsurface due to the counteraction of capillary forces. However, when modeling oil reservoirs, on the basis of which development projects are prepared, these characteristics of productive formations are practically not considered. Capillary effects are especially important at the fields with hard-to-recover reserves, where the oil recovery currently does not exceed 20 %. The study of capillary characteristics of a number of fields in Western Siberia allowed to clarify the contours of oil bearing capacity, to differentiate deposits by field characteristics, to select areas with active reserves and to recommend measures to improve the efficiency of their development.
