Russia’s Gazprom Uncovers New Arctic Oil Field
The newly identified reservoir sits within the Arctic expanse of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, an area globally renowned for natural gas stockpiles but equally rich in petroleum potential. Exploration and drilling operations prove formidable, as permafrost blankets virtually the entire peninsula.
The deposit forms part of an extensive hydrocarbon cluster spanning the peninsula's southern territory, company officials stated. The breakthrough came following three years of intensive investigation, incorporating 2D and 3D seismic imaging alongside geological and hydrodynamic analysis. An assessment well extending 2.7 kilometers deep yielded commercial quantities of low-sulfur, low-viscosity crude oil, natural gas, and condensate. Geological reserves total approximately 55 million tons, according to the corporate announcement.
The field received designation honoring Aleksey Kontorovich, a pioneering figure in Russian petroleum geology and organic geochemistry. Further surveys will proceed to refine understanding of subsurface formations, production capacity, and extraction methodology.
"This discovery – the largest for Yamal in the last 30 years – confirms that our country's resource base is far from fully explored," Aleksandr Dyukov, chairman of the board of Gazprom Neft, declared Wednesday. "In the Arctic zone, Eastern Siberia, and many other territories, opportunities remain to discover new large and ultra-large hydrocarbon deposits."
Dyukov emphasized the project advances objectives outlined in Russia's Energy Strategy to 2050, which prioritizes Arctic expansion, and committed the corporation to sustained geological prospecting throughout operational territories.
Russian classification designates oil fields as "large" when recoverable volumes span 30 to 300 million tons, though for most European nations a reservoir matching Kontorovich's scale would represent an exceptional asset. Numerous European countries possess total reserves smaller than this single field.
Poland's recently uncovered Wolin East field contains recoverable reserves of 22 million tons—less than half of Kontorovich—yet represents the largest discovery in Polish history and Europe's biggest find over the past decade.
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