The valuable stone material will be a direct source of geological information required to determine the age (stratification), composition, and formation conditions of sedimentary rocks in the studied shelf region. As a result of the expedition, scientists expect to build a reliable geological model of the region and estimate its oil and gas potential.
Rosneft Oil Company has been implementing its comprehensive long-term research programme in Arctic that includes geological, weather, and environmental surveys. These efforts are being undertaken jointly with the nation's leading research and development organisations. Since 2012, the Company's Arctic Research Centre has organised over 30 expeditions to the polar regions - these are the largest-scale studies of the Arctic since Soviet times.
For the Rosneft expedition, the drilling vessel Bavenit was equipped with the latest domestic equipment allowing it to carry out the so-called "diamond" drilling to a depth of 500 meters, accelerate coring several times and improve the quality of taken rock samples. The vessel is also equipped with unique fibre optic geophysical equipment to tie the core to the seismic section.
The core samples will be lab-tested by means of Innopraktika and the Lomonosov Moscow State University Faculty of Geology. Now the laboratories continue to study rock samples taken in 2020 in the north of the Kara Sea as a result of similar work.
The fieldwork in the Laptev Sea will be carried out in compliance with the highest standards of environmental safety and protection. The project was preceded by long-term geological expeditions to the research region, as well as a cycle of seismic, engineering, and geophysical studies. All this made it possible to build a comprehensive geological model of the Eastern Arctic shelf, which will be detailed based on the results of the expedition.