Russian energy giant Rosneft has confirmed the opening of a new field in the Arctic with reserves of more than 80 million tons of oil
The firm submitted materials to the Russian State Commission on Stockpiles, justifying the opening of the new field located in Khatanga Bay.
The move came on the back of the results of a review which showed the site in the Laptev Sea has recoverable reserves (C1 + C2 categories) of more than 80 million tons of oil.
Geological reserves of the new field are estimated at 298 million tons of oil. The oil of the new high quality deposit is light and low-sulfur.
At the moment, the vompany continues drilling at Central-Olginskaya-1, the first well on the shelf of the Eastern Arctic to study the geological structure, search for new hydrocarbon deposits and determine the further strategy for prospecting.
Central Olginskaya-1 is the first well drilled under the Laptev Sea.
Drilling is conducted from the shore and the design depth of the well is 5,523 meters.
Rosneft received a license to develop the Khatanga site in December 2015.
The firm began exploratory drilling in early April 2017.
More than 21,000 linear kilometers of seismic exploration was carried out in the region, which identified 114 oil and gas promising structures.
The resource potential of the Laptev Sea is, according to preliminary estimates, up to 9.5 billion tons of oil equivalent.
Currently, Rosneft owns 28 license areas on the Arctic shelf with total resources of 34 billion tons of oil equivalent.
According to experts, by 2050 the Arctic shelf will provide from 20 to 30% of all Russian oil production.