Rosneft has discovered hydrocarbon deposits on the Eastern Arctic shelf in the Laptev Sea, Russia.
The exploratory well named Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 was drilled by the Russian oil giant from the Khara-Tumus Peninsula shore on the Khatanga Bay shelf.
Rosneft stated that three core samples it had obtained from 2305-2363m depths proved presence of high oil saturation dominated with light oily fractions on the northernmost exploratory well on the Eastern Arctic.
The oil major added that through the primary studies it has conducted, the volume of the resource potential of the newly discovered oil field seems to be increasing with continued drilling.
Rosneft which is continuing with core sampling at the discovery, stated: “Hydrocarbon saturation of the core samples proves the geological model developed by Rosneft experts.
“The obtained result of the drilling at the Khatanga licenced area allows Rosneft to be considered a pioneer of deposit discoveries on the Eastern Arctic shelf.”
Drilling at the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 exploratory well was done following a comprehensive geological study of the Arctic region at Rosneft’s scientific and research base on the Khara-Tumus Peninsula shore in Laptev Sea’s Khatanga Bay.
The ice-exploration expedition Khatanga-Winter 2017 in this regard in the Khatanga Bay and the southern part of the Laptev Sea was carried out by Rosneft in collaboration with the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and Arctic Research Centre.
In late 2015, Rosneft had won the license for Khatanga development while Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 is the first well it is drilling under the offshore part of the Laptev Sea.
Apart from Khatanga, Rosneft is the owner of 27 other licence areas on the Arctic shelf having a combined resource capacity of 34 btoe. The Arctic shelf is believed to contribute 20-30% of the total oil production in Russia by 2050 as per expert estimates.
Image: Rosneft’s drilling of the northernmost well at the Russian Arctic shelf. Photo: courtesy of ROSNEFT.