According to results of geophysical studies, the shelf of almost aU marginal seas in the Arctic Ocean is promising for hydrocarbon production. Shelf of many other ice-covered seas in lower latitudes also have hydrocarbon reserves. It explains the necessity to research different aspects of offshore oil and natural gas production, marine navigation, safety problems, and environment protection in ice-infested waters. Problems of simulating parameters of ice regime for the purposes of designing engineering structures to explore and produce oil and natural gas are discussed in the paper. The earlier proposed idea of combining local description of ice regime with large-scale regional numerical model of ice cover evolution is further developed. The features of proposed approach are considered. The calculations of ice thickness for conditions of northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island are fulfilled and compared with results of air reconnaissance observations and field measurements.
Sea ice cover determines design of engineering structures to develop offshore fields and technology for their construction. Presence of ice makes the transport of oil and gas products difficult. Evacuation of personnel in the case of an emergency situation is also difficult. Some problems of cleaning oil spills on drifting ice cover are not solved either. The technology of cleaning an oil spill from the water among floating ice floes is still under development. At the present time, studies of ice problems connected with offshore exploration and production in ice-infested seas are carried out in many countries. Ice conditions of promising production areas are of the greatest interest for consideration. Information about parameters of ice regime is mandatory to solve all aforementioned problems. Therefore the priority direction of studying ice problems is developing methods to determine degree of ice regime details sufficient for practical activities.
