Skoltech scientists and their partners from Sergeev Institute of Environmental Geoscience of RAS, with support from the R&D unit of TotalEnergies, have predicted how oil and gas wells heat up the permafrost around them. Presented in Geosciences, the new model encompasses 30 years of well operation and accounts for not just the melting of ice in frozen soil but also the gradual release of methane locked up in it. Understanding these processes is becoming increasingly relevant for accident-proof extraction and greenhouse gas emission monitoring as oil companies shift their attention to deposits in the Arctic region.