Rosneft advances Arctic Shelf stratigraphic drilling

Rosneft Oil Co. will test core samples from an Arctic survey that included drilling shallow stratigraphic wells in the north Kara Sea. The samples will help determine the age (stratification), composition, and formation conditions for Arctic shelf rocks under research to test oil and gas potential of the North-Kara basin.

Rosneft is implementing a comprehensive long-term research program in the Arctic, which includes geological, oceanological, hydrometeorological, and environmental studies.

The North-Kara drilling was performed with the Bavenit survey drillship. Eight wells—the first in the region and the northernmost on the Russian shelf—were drilled to a depth of 90 m. In total, 6.5 tonnes of core were sampled, and the drilling technology was tested in deposits with varying properties, such as rocky terrigenous and carbonate ones, as well as in more challenging dispersion and semi-core deposits.