Despite the political situation in Ukraine, the U.S. major ExxonMobil and Russia’s Rosneft are still collaborating in a new energy search in the frontier Kara Sea area bordered by the Yamal Peninsula and the island of Novaya Zemlya.

The two operators have started drilling on the Universitetskaya-1 well, Russia’s most northerly exploration well to date, managed by joint venture company Karmorneftegaz. Drilling is being carried out by the West Alpha semisubmersible rig, owned by Seadrill subsidiary North Atlantic Drilling.

The rig was specially equipped for this arctic operation after mobilising 1,900 nautical miles (2,187 miles) to reach the well location in Rosneft’s East Prinovozemelskiy-1 license area in the Kara Sea, via the Barents and Pechora Seas.

Signalling the importance of this well, Russian Federation President Vladmir Putin himself grasped the very public opportunity to launch the start of drilling, witnessed by Rosneft head Igor Sechin, and the head of ExxonMobil in Russia, Glen Waller.

According to Rosneft the Universitetskaya structure covers 1,200 sq km (463 sq miles) and has a 550 m (1,800 ft) high hydrocarbon trap. Gross resources are estimated at 1.3 Bboe, while a total of 30 structures have been identified in the East Prinovozemelskiy area. The entire resource base for Universiteskaya, East Prinovozemlskiy and the Kara Sea as a whole is estimated at 87 Bboe, or 13 Btoe.

Drilling of the well in a water depth of 81 m (365 ft) is expected to take up to two months, with the target depth set at 2,350 m (7,708 ft).

Rosneft’s Igor Sechin claimed the start of the Kara Sea well was the most significant event for the global oil and gas industry this year: “As a result of this work we are planning to discover a new Kara Sea oil province.” Development of the Arctic shelf would also have a major multiple effect on the whole of the Russian economy, he added.

At the end of July North Atlantic Drilling finalised a long-term drilling contract with Rosneft involving up to six rigs until 2022 for harsh environment off¬shore drilling assignments, with the total revenue potential put at up to US $4.25 billion. The deal involves 5-year contracts for the West Navigator, West Rigel and West Alpha, as well as two newbuild CJ54 rigs, and a 2.5 year contract for a Gusto jackup, commencing in 2015-2017.

Before drilling got underway at Universitetskaya-1, Rosneft and ExxonMobil spent months working on ice-preparations, with the West Alpha upgraded to ensure main and supplementary equipment including life support and evacuation systems could cope with the low temperatures. Ice condition monitoring equipment has also been installed, including infrared cameras and radar to track icebergs and sea ice formations, while satellite and air intelligence data is also at the disposal of the rig crew. Iceberg collision avoidance has been planned for, involving plans to move the rig using specialist support vessels. The West Alpha is also equipped with two BOPs and enhanced seabed shut-in equipment to isolate a well in an emergency, allowing the rig to transfer to a safer location.