Page 13 - FSUOGMWeek 10 2020

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Another setback for Nostrum as Kazakh partner delays gas supplies
KAZAKHSTAN
Nostrum is seeking to use more of
its unutilised gas processing capacity.
NOSTRUM Oil & Gas has suffered a further set- back, announcing on March 9 that gas deliver- ies from a fellow Kazakhstan-focused producer would be delayed.
The embattled company, which operates the Chinarevskoye field in western Kazakhstan, wants to process third-party gas at its processing facilities in order to boost revenues. It reached an agreement in August 2018 to handle gas sup- plied by Ural Oil & Gas (UOG), which intends to develop the Rozhkovskoye field some 20 km from Chinarevskoye.
“Nostrum has been informed by Ural that its delivery of gas to Nostrum will be delayed,” the company said in a stock filing. “Ural is currently working on a new timetable for delivery of gas to Nostrum. “Despite this delay, UOG manage- ment expressed full commitment to deliver the gas before any penalties arise under the existing agreements, which would require gas to be deliv- ered before April 3 2023.”
UOG’s owners are Kazakhstan’s KazMunayGas
(KMG), China’s Sinopec and Hungary’s MOL. The group discovered the Rozhkovskoye field in 2008, now estimated to hold 104mn barrels of oil equivalent of proven and probable gas and condensate. Earlier UOG said it planned to launch trial production at the field in 2020, with output reaching 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate and 548mn cubic metres per year of gas.
Nostrum has struggled for the years with declining production, operational setbacks and financial losses. It repeatedly delayed the launch of third gas treatment unit (GTU) at Chin- arevskoye. The facility was finally declared ready to operate last year, but difficulties with well pro- ductivity has meant it remains unutilised.
Nostrum began searching for a buyer for all or part of its business last summer, but so far it has been unsuccessful. In January it announced it would shift its focus to utilising its spare gas processing, and halt all drilling to cut costs. ™
Gazprom Neft, Rosneft launch new oilfield
RUSSIA
The field launch comes days after Moscow opted out of further OPEC+ quotas.
RUSSIAN state oil producers Gazprom Neft and Rosneft have launched trial operations at a new oilfield in Western Siberia, just days after Mos- cow’s decision to opt out of any further OPEC+ supply cuts.
The West-Chistinnoye field in Russia’s oil heartland of Khanty-Mansiysk holds an esti- mated 22.3mn tonnes (163mn barrels) of crude, ranking as a mid-sized deposit by Russian standards. Its operator Slavneft-Megionneftegas (SN-MNG), a 50:50 joint venture between Gaz- prom Neft and Rosneft, announced the start of trial operations on March 10.
Over the course of this year SN-MNG said it would carry out geological and geophysical surveys to improve its understanding of the field’s structure and prepare it for full-scale development.
“We are steadily expanding our resource base through the acquisition of new assets and the re-examination of existing ones,” SN-MNG
CEO Mikhail Cherevko said. “Thanks to the use of advanced technologies, we are involved in the economically effective development of hydrocarbon reserves that until recently were unprofitable.”
West-Chistinnoye was discovered in 1987, and SN-MNG gained a licence for the field in 2016. SN-MNG has described the field’s geol- ogy as “complicated,” although it is located adja- cent to the company’s producing Chistinnoye field, which should reduce infrastructure costs. SN-MNG did not say how much oil the Chistin- noye would supply at peak capacity.
SN-MNG is part of Gazprom Neft and Ros- neft’s Slavneft partnership. Slavneft, which oper- ates mostly in Western Siberia, was previously a joint venture between Russian private firm Sibneft and TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and Russian partners. Sibneft was bought by Gazprom Neft in 2005, while Rosneft acquired TNK-BP in 2013. ™
Week 10 11•March•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P13