Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 24 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
NGH starts work at Arctic oil project
RUSSIA
NEFTEGAZHOLDING (NGH), a private oil producer led by former Rosne executive Edu- ard Khudainatov, has kicked o development at a large oil eld north of the Arctic Circle.
The government of Russia’s Krasnoyarsk territory announced the start of develop- ment drilling at the site on June 14, with gov- ernor Alexander Uss describing the event as “historical.”
First identified in 1990, the Paiyakhskoye eld is estimated to hold 1.2bn tonnes (8.8bn barrels) in C1+C2 oil reserves according to a recent appraisal by state authorities, putting it on a par with some of Russia’s biggest discoveries. Production is slated to start in 2024 and level o at a rst-phase plateau of 26mn tonnes per year (520,000 barrels per day) by 2030, equivalent to almost 5% of current national output. Under the further development, it could reach as high as 1mn bpd.
“ e rig-up and commissioning works are over and we are starting to drill the rst well cluster,” Andrey Polyakov, NGH’s vice president of exploration and production, was quoted as
saying in the Krasnoyarsk government’s state- ment. Some 12 exploration wells have already been sunk at the eld, Polyakov said, noting that a further three exploration and two production wells would be drilled this year.
Russian oil companies are pushing ahead with remote and challenging projects in the country’s Far North in an e ort to o set fall- ing production at mature elds further south. Exploiting Paiyakhskoye will require the con- struction of a 413-km pipeline and a 500,000 bpd export terminal to bring its oil to market. NGH says it will cost $5bn to achieve rst oil at the eld, with total investments over the project’s rst phase estimated at $20bn.
e company is looking to farm in either a domestic or international partner to help share these costs. Khudainatov has revealed holding talks with investors from China and Qatar in the past, and is reportedly considering joint devel- opment with Rosne , where he served as presi- dent between 2010 and 2012. e state oil giant operates the neighbouring Baikalovskoye oil eld through a joint venture with BP.™
Gazprom Neft reveals offshore Arctic exploration plans
RUSSIA
RUSSIAN state oil producer Gazprom Neft is pushing ahead with its o shore Arctic exploration programme, recently revealing plans to shoot 2D seismic surveys at two blocks in the region.
In a tender disclosure notice published on June 11, the company said it was seeking a con- tractor to collect and interpret at least 7,000 km of 2D seismic data at the North-Vrangelevsky and Kheysovsky blocks this year. ese surveys will need to be completed before early Decem- ber, when the sea starts to freeze. Gazprom Ne may commission an additional 5000 km of data as “optional work” from contractors.
North-Vrangelevsky is 117,600 square km in size and lies o the northwest shore of the Chukotka Peninsula, in waters between 20 and 90 metres deep. Gazprom Ne has said it could hold up to 22bn barrels of oil equivalent of in-place hydrocarbons, including 14.7bn barrels of oil and 1 trillion cubic metres of natural gas.
Gazprom Ne won rights to North-Vrange- levsky in 2014, after outbidding fellow state- owned operator Rosne at an auction, and since then has amassed some 11,000 km of 2D seismic data at the site.
Kheysovsky spans around of 84,000 square km west of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, in waters that can exceed 500 metres in depth.
Gazprom Ne is yet to shore up plans for 3D seismic surveys and drilling work at either block, presumably because of the high cost of o shore Arctic exploration. It has sought inter- national partners in the past to help shoulder this cost and bring in the necessary expertise and technologies to move forward with drilling, without success. Its e orts have been stymied by a blanket ban under EU and US sanctions on involvement in o shore Arctic oil and gas projects.™
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