Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 45 2019
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FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Russia wraps up Arctic drilling season
RUSSIA
The region will become engulfed with ice within a few weeks, making
it impassable to all but specialised ice-breaking vesses.
RUSSIA’S Arctic drilling season is drawing to a close, with the region set to become engulfed in ice within a few weeks, making it impassable to all but specialised ice-breaking vessels.
The Nanhai VIII semi-submersible rig, owned by China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL), completed drilling work at the Leningradsky block in mid-October and arrived on October 24 in Murmansk. It is now being towed out of the region by a heavy lift ship, data from ship traffic service MarineTraffic showed on November 6.
Nanhai VIII has worked in the Arctic for several years, drilling wells in 2017 and 2018 at Leningradsky and the Rusanovsky licence area, resulting in the discovery of an extra 1.2tn cubic metres of gas.
Meanwhile, the Arkticheskaya jack-up rig, owned by Gazprom’s shipping arm, is now back in port in Murmansk after completing its drilling campaign for the year at the Skuratovsky block. Last year it also worked at the Nyarmeisky block.
Leningradsky, Rusanovsky, Nyarmeisky and Skuratovsky are all operated by Gazprom,
which along with fellow state concern Rosneft has exclusive rights to all oil and gas off Russia’s Arctic coast. However, privately owned Novatek has secured licences for several deposits located partly or fully in the Gulf of Ob, which is not con- sidered part of this exclusive zone.
Gazprom’s Amazon rig drilled at Novatek’s Geofizicheskoye field straddling the Ob’s shore this summer, having also sunk a well last year at the private firm’s Severo-Obsky block, leading to a gas discovery. These fields are expected to sup- ply gas to Novatek’s up and coming LNG projects in the area.
Future years are set to see Novatek launch development drilling at some of its Arctic offshore fields, while Gazprom is expected to limit its work in the region to exploration for the moment. Rosneft, despite operating more offshore licences than any other company in the Arctic, has not carried out any offshore drilling since its Pobeda oil discovery in the Kara Sea in 2014 and the subsequent slump in oil prices.
Rosneft, Gazprom Neft win oil blocks in Khanty-Mansiysk
RUSSIA
Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are among the leading producers in Khanty-Mansiysk.
RUSSIAN state oil companies Rosneft and Gaz- prom Neft have won rights to a pair of oilfields in the Khanty-Mansiysk region of Western Sibe- ria, according to documents published by state licensing agency Rosnedra.
Rosneft has received a licence for a block containing the Galnadskoye deposit in Khan- ty-Mansiysk’s Surgutsky district, after paying RUB103.4mn ($1.6mn) at auction. The area has 280,000 tonnes (2.05mn barrels) in C1 and 718,000 tonnes (5.26mn barrels) in C1 oil resources.
Meanwhile, Gazprom Neft’s subsidiary Gazpromneft-Khantos has won rights to the North-Ingolskoye field, after making an offer of RUB204.3mn. The area’s resources are assessed at 696,000 tonnes (5.1mn barrels) in C1 and 1.14mn tonnes (8.36mn barrels) in C2 oil.
Khanty-Mansiysk was first developed as an oil province in the 1960s and is responsible for
around 40-45% of national production. But its share is due to shrink as more of its older fields reach depletion. The government has neverthe- less continued offering new explored and unex- plored areas to the operator in hope of reducing the pace of this decline.
The region produced 236mn tonnes (4.74mn barrels per day, bpd) of oil during 2018. Gaz- prom Neft and Rosneft, alongside private oil company Lukoil, account for the vast majority of liquids output in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Rosnedra is preparing to hold a contest for a larger field in Khanty-Mansiysk next month, known as Ontochskoye, with the starting price for bids set at RUB731.2mn. The deadline for offers is December 9, and a winner will be announced on December 24. Ontochskoye’s C1 and C2 oil reserves are estimated at 1.59mn tonnes (11.7mn barrels) and 9.05mn tonnes (66.3mn barrels) respectively.
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