IG Seismic Services PLC (GEOTECH Holding CJSC) and Joint Stock Company Gazprom Neft have signed a three-year agreement for the conducting of seismic exploration work. The total area covered by the geophysical exploration under the contract may cover up to 5,000 square kilometers by the year 2015. The work will be performed using 3-D technology, as well as the innovative UniQ high density seismic data acquisition technology, which will be used in Russia for the first time.

The agreement envisages conducting seismic exploration, processing and interpretation of geophysical data, and provision of expert recommendations. The agreement envisages a complex approach towards the deposit exploration process on the part of the service provider, which will start its expert evaluation by specifying the technical objectives for the work to be conducted. Within the agreement framework, the high definition seismic exploration will cover some potentially productive deposits belonging to the Gazprom Neft company.

These deposits include sections of the Chonsky project (the Ignyalinsk, Vakunaysk and Tympuchikansk sections) in Eastern Siberia, as well as the Gazpromneft-Noyabrskneftegaz JSC sections in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District: West-Chatylkinsk section (acquired in 2011) and Valyntoysk section. Follow-up exploration of the West-Luginets section, where Gazpromneft-East initiated development of Nizhne-Luginetds deposit three years ago, is planned for the Tomsk region.