CURRENT ISSUES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GEOLOGY AND MAJOR RESULTS OF GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN RUSSIAN SHELF
460 thousand km of the Russian continental shelf were studied with 2D seismic survey funded publicly and by license holders, and license holders funded more than 80 thousand km<sup>2</sup> of 3D seismic survey (more than 35 thousand km<sup>2</sup> are located in the arctic seas). Total drilling area exceeded 250 thousand m in the period, including approximately 100 thousand m for exploration drilling and 150 thousand m for prospecting. Conducted geological exploration provided no opportunity to substantiate oil-gas-bearing capacity of the shelf and construct more efficient quantitative estimate of hydrocarbon resources for most promising arctic seas. Lack of marine drilling facilities after sanctions brought about a suggestion that geological prospecting should be concentrated in the Laptev Sea. There Russian ground drilling facilities could be used and discovered oil and gas deposits (liquefied natural gas) would be demanded in the Asian Pacific region in the near future.