Russia to draft program for Arctic shelf exploration by 2012
The Russian Government plans to develop a state program for exploration and extraction of mineral resources on the Russian Arctic Continental Shelf by the end of 2011, says Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
Russia is the world’s leading country when it comes to natural gas reserves (24 percent of the total) and number seven in oil reserves (6 percent), Patrushev said, according to RIA Novosti. But these resources are not renewable: – Although the country’s own demands for energy resources are covered for tens of years ahead, our traditional potential is gradually decreasing, he says.
The Security Council discussed this issue in a recent meeting and instructed the government to finish drafting and by the end of 2011 adopt a long-term state program for exploration and extraction of mineral resources on Russia’s Arctic shelf, Patrushev said.
Read also: Licenses for everyone
According to Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the country has already developed 75 percent of its oil and gas deposits. Many of these deposits register 50-percent depletion and low extraction coefficient (30 percent).
- In these circumstances, Russia’s continental sea shelf becomes a major source of energy supplies, and its exploration assumes an enormous strategic and economic significance, Patrushev said.
Russian experts estimate recoverable oil and gas resources on the continental shelf at 100 billion tons of oil equivalents. There are 51 discovered deposits on the Russian shelf, of which six, including the Shtokman gas field, are considered to be unique.
The new program will help focus the efforts of the state and the leading Russian energy companies on efficient exploration of deposits on the continental shelf, Patrushev said.
