Page 18 - FSUOGM Week 37

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Rosneft goes solo at hard-to-

recover oil project

RUSSIA ROSNEFT is pushing ahead with a hard-to-re- reservoirs rather than limestone formations
cover oil project in the Volga-Urals Basin – its such as Domanik.
Previously Rosneft first without any partner. Rosneft has been assessing the potential for
has only worked with The company said on September 10 it had commercial production at Domanik sites in the
foreign partners at such started drilling its first exploration well to test the Samara region as well, through a joint venture
projects. Domanik formation at the Kutuluksky licence with Norway’s Equinor. The company typi-
area, situated in the Orenburg region border- cally partners with international oil companies
ing Kazakhstan. The well is horizontal and will (IOCs) at technically challenging or significantly
undergo hydraulic fracturing. costly projects.
The project’s exploration phase will run until Rosneft and Equinor had a pilot project in
next year. Rosneft expects this work to result in Samara that ran between 2016 and 2019. But
a 70mn tonne (513mn barrel) increase in its oil it is unclear what work they are carrying out
reserves, and a growth in its gas resources by currently.
23bn cubic metres. Fellow Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft,
Rosneft’s close partner and shareholder Lukoil and Tatneft also formed a joint venture in
BP had wanted to take part in the pro- December to exploit Domanik reservoirs in the
ject, but pulled out after the 2014 oil price Orenberg region. Russian producers are looking
crash. Western sanctions were also imposed to tap Domanik and other unconventional plays
on Russia’s oil sector that year, but they as a means of countering declining output from
only prevent firms from assisting at shale conventional fields. ™

Rosneft, BP find new oilfield

in Eastern Siberia

RUSSIA RUSSIA’S Rosneft, BP and a group of Indian Srednetuobinskoye is the joint venture’s only
companies have discovered a new oilfield in asset. Production at the field was started in 2013
The field is located at Eastern Siberia. but remained at below 1mn tonnes per year (tpy)
existing production Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazdobycha (TYNGD) initially because of infrastructure constraints.
infrastructure. operates two licence blocks in Yakutia contain- Rosneft later built a 168-km pipeline to con-
ing the Srednetuobinskoye oilfield. The com- nect the field with the Eastern Siberia-Pacific
pany found the Kyttygasskoye field at one of the Ocean (EPSO) pipeline, allowing it easy access
blocks, Rosneft said last week. The deposit is esti- to China and Asia-Pacific markets. TYNGD
mated to hold 1.3mn tonnes (9.5mn barrels) of embarked on second-stage development of
oil and 1.2bn cubic metres of gas in recoverable the field in 2018, aimed at bringing output to
reserves. 100,000 bpd. According to Energy Ministry
While relatively small in size, the field’s dis- data, it produced 3.14mn tonnes (94,300 bpd)
covery is still significant, as oilfields with such in January-August, meaning it is not far off the
a geological structure have not been found in target plateau.
Yakutia before, Rosneft explained. Its structure Srednetuobinskoye also straddles a third
is similar to that of Rosneft’s Danilovskoye field licence block operated by a subsidiary of Cyprus-
in the neighbouring Irkutsk region. based Eastsib Holding. Commercial production
Rosneft has a 50.1% stake in TYNGD, while was started there last summer.
BP owns a 20% interest. The remaining 29.9% of Rosneft’s latest find comes after it discov-
shares are held by a consortium of Indian firms ered an oilfield almost 150mn barrels in size at
Oil India Ltd (OIL), Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) and its Vostok Oil project in the Russian Arctic in
Bharat PetroResources. July.™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 16•September•2020