Rosnedra to allocate 2.5 bln rubles for exploration of hydrocarbon potential of Eastern Arctic shelf through mid-2024

MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - The Russian Research Geological Oil Institute (VNIGNI), a Rosnedra entity, has announced two tenders to study the oil and gas potential of the Arctic Shelf for a total of 2.5 billion rubles, procurement materials indicate.

The first tender, for 1.564 billion rubles, is for "comprehensive geological and geophysical works to study the geological structure and oil and gas potential of the junction zone of slope structures of the Arctic Ocean's Gakkel Ridge and Nansen Basin with the shelf structures of the Laptev Sea". Work on the site will be carried out until Q2 2024, with the area to be studied totaling 203,477 square km.

The second tender, for over 918 million rubles, is for "clarification of the geological structure and assessment of the oil and gas potential of the De Long prospective oil and gas province of the East Siberian Sea". Works at this site will be carried out until Q4 2023, with an area to be studied totaling 146,496 square km.

The Natural Resources Ministry told Interfax that these works are due to be performed at the expense of the federal budget within the framework of the Russian state program for "Replacement and use of natural resources" for regional geological study.

"In accordance with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, all states, regardless of their geographic location, and competent international organizations have the right to conduct marine scientific research, subject to the rights and obligations of other states stipulated in this Convention," a spokesperson for the Natural Resources Ministry said.

The purpose of the work is to clarify the geological structure of the eastern Arctic seas on the basis of complex marine geophysical studies. In it's course, there are plans to clarify the cross section of the sedimentary cover and the regional structural and tectonic plan.