Engineering Survey for Drilling Rigs in the Arctic Seas

Oil, gas and gas condensate fields in the Arctic shelf areas of the Russian Federation have become one of the most upcoming approaches in the offshore oil and gas fields’ development. At present integrated engineering surveys are actively performed at the fields in the Barents and Kara Seas. Lately a wide range of engineering works has been performed on prospecting and exploratory wells sites.Engineering surveys enable to obtain the fullest data for the upper part of geological profile and provide necessary data for safety positioning of drilling rigs. The data obtained from the stated survey is used for optimal location selection for drilling rig positioning and for the necessary calculations. The use of geophysical and geotechnical methods provide the effective solution for the stated geological challenge and ensures the obtaining of sufficient information regarding soil composition, properties and bedding conditions. The appliance of high quality geological profile data and the use of different calculation methods and standards make possible the performance of necessary foundation soils assessment and comparison of the calculation results, which consequently provides the safety positioning of a drilling rig.