Prospecting for new oil reserves is a complex and high-cost endeavor, even when it involves traditional resources. The cost of geological prospecting operations and the cost of mistakes are higher still when investigating previously un-researched, inaccessible regions. Much of this uncertainty can be eliminated prior to commencing fieldwork through the process of basin modeling. Through this technology, on the basis of all information available on the geology of a region, mathematical and analytical methodologies are used to recreate the processes through which geological strata have been formed — and how they have been changed — meaning that areas with hydrocarbon accumulations can be laid bare.

LLC "IRELYAKHSKOE" Drilling Support Centre was established specifically to improve effectiveness in the construction of high-technology wells. Its work is predominantly based around geo-steering technology, which involves obtaining information on the geological model of a field in real time, with adjustments made to the well trajectory in line with this. The use of cutting-edge technologies, including telecommunications technologies, allows data to be transferred to the Drilling Support Centre in real time, during drilling. Updated information is displayed on the existing geological model of the field, with actual data compared against projected data, analyzed, and, if necessary, the well trajectory corrected on that basis in order to fall within the target zone. Then, as new data is received, the cycle is repeated, allowing uninterrupted control over drilling operations.