Rosneft: Results of Field Season of Arctic Scientific Research
The first geological wells in history were drilled in the water area of the Eastern Arctic during the research expedition of PJSC NK Rosneft. The work was carried out in the Laptev Sea, in the area of the Kotelny and Novaya Zemlya islands. The purpose of the expedition was to take core samples – valuable stony material, which serves as a direct source of geological information necessary to determine the age (stratification), composition and formation conditions of rocks on the continental shelf. A total of 6 stratigraphic wells were drilled, 415 m of core were taken, the total depth of the wells (including penetration without coring) was 840 meters.
The representatives of the Company spoke about the work of the expedition at a press conference dedicated to the results of the field season in 2021. The extracted core will be examined by specialists from the Innopraktika non-state development institute on the basis of the Geological Faculty of the Moscow State University. Lomonosov. This will allow scientists to build a reliable geological model of the region and get the latest data on its oil and gas potential.
In 2020, a scientific geological expedition of Rosneft worked in the north of the Kara Sea. In 2022, stratigraphic drilling is planned in the Chukchi Sea. Thus, specialists will have an array of up-to-date data on the shelf of the northern seas of Russia.
In 2021, Rosneft’s ecological expeditions also worked in high latitudes to study, monitor and preserve populations of polar bears, Atlantic walrus, and wild reindeer. Research was carried out jointly with the Institute of Ecology and Evolution named after A.N. Severtsov RAS, Marine Research Center of Moscow State University, Siberian Federal University
Thanks to the Rosneft program, for the first time, walrus rookeries on the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the Oranskie Islands (the territory of the Russian Arctic National Park) and about. Victoria. A detailed mapping of known haul-out sites and a full-scale animal census using unmanned aerial vehicles have been carried out. The obtained data on the population size is twice as high as the previous one – more than 7000 individuals.
In the spring of 2021, on the Alexandra Land island of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, research was carried out on a polar bear during the period when females emerged from their ancestral dens. With the help of a quadrocopter, scientists have obtained unique footage of female bears with their offspring. In August – September 2021, on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the area of Cape Zhelaniya, work was carried out during the ice-free period – the most difficult for polar bears. A complex of morphometric measurements of animals, weighing, sampling of blood and wool for genetic, biochemical and toxicological analyzes were carried out.
Wild reindeer studies were also conducted during the spring and summer-fall seasons. The largest complex monitoring of animals in the history of the project was organized to determine the size of the Taimyr-Evenk population and the migration routes of reindeer. During ground and aviation surveys, photographic and video filming was carried out with subsequent identification of individuals, registration of places of anthropogenic impact on the herd, collection of samples of biological material. 18 deer are tagged with collars with satellite transmitters.
The data obtained as a result of field work will be processed and published. Including, within the framework of the series “Environmental atlases of the seas of Russia”, which is published jointly with the company “Innopraktika”. Based on the information received, Rosneft will develop recommendations for the study, monitoring and conservation of key species of animals in the Arctic.
