Rosneft launched a research expedition from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky port, the purpose of which is to obtain samples of continental shelf rocks from hard-to-reach and poorly studied regions of the Eastern Arctic.
Scientific works include shallow-depth stratigraphic drilling in the Chukchi and East Siberian seas, as well as studies of underwater rock in the Laptev Sea, lenta.ru reports.
"We are creating a reliable geological model of the region. And this is the key to the knowledge of the subsoil resources. The specifics of this expedition is that we plan to uncover the most ancient levels of the sedimentary cover section, which have similarities with comparable complexes in Alaska, via stratigraphic drilling," said Nikolay Malyshev, Deputy director of the Exploration Department of Rosneft.
The vessel "Bavenit", from which drilling operations are carried out, is equipped with innovative domestic equipment. The project began in 2020 and is carried out by the efforts of the Arctic Research Center, a subsidiary of the company.
The research program will last until the end of this year.
During the expeditions of 2020-2022 Rosneft has already managed to obtain core samples in the north of Kara, Chukchi and Laptev Seas – for the first time ever in the history of study.
The extracted material serves as a direct source of geological information necessary to determine the age, composition and conditions of formation of rocks of the Eastern Arctic shelf and to predict the state of the oil and gas systems of the region.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
