Continental shelf of the Russian Federation: key results of exploration and prospecting for oil and gas conducted in 2015-2019 at the expense of subsoil users and its development outlook until 2025

Funded by subsoil users geological exploration and prospecting in the continental shelf of the Russian Federation are conducted in the waters of the Arctic (Barents, Pechora, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi) and far-eastern (Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan) seas, and also in the Russian sectors of the Caspian, Azov, Black, and Baltic shelves. The paper presents the current state of licensing of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation. The results of exploration and prospecting on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, which were funded by subsoil users in 2015 to 2019 are presented and analysed. Integration and analysis of exploration and prospecting conducted by subsoil users is one of the most important stages in evaluation of the hydrocarbon resource potential. The authors demonstrate dynamics of exploration and prospecting funding, oil and gas production history, and changes in hydrocarbon reserves. They also discuss the results of deep drilling and seismic exploration using 2D and 3D CDP reflection method on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation. Hydrocarbon fields discovered recently on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation are presented. The authors discuss the main trends of the continental shelf of the Russian Federation development by subsoil user companies in the period of 2020 to 2025.The paper can be the basis for analysis of the possibility of hydrocarbon resource base development on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, and to assess the need for additional offshore regional works with the purpose of new geological exploration centres development and creation of centres for offshore hydrocarbon production. In order to prepare new sites offered for licensing, it is necessary to increase funding from the federal budget for regional geological exploration in the zones of onshore and offshore oil and gas-bearing structures junction, which are often associated with shallow transition zones and are inaccessible to offshore seismic surveys, as well as regional lines linking petroleum basins on the Arctic shelf of the Russian Federation and in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea.