Page 12 - FSUOGM Week 32 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Novatek stages bid for Arctic gas field
RUSSIA
Novatek has asked authorities to ringfence all gas resources on the Gydan Peninsula.
RUSSIA’S largest independent gas operator Novatek has applied for a licence to a Soviet-era gas discovery in the northern Yamalo-Nen- ets region, Russia’s natural resources ministry reported on August 12.
An auction for exploration and production rights to the Soletsko-Khanaveiskoye gas eld, discovered in 1985, was launched on July 16. However, terms of the contest prohibit compa- nies without any experience in LNG produc- tion in the area from taking part, effectively restricting the pool of bidders to Novatek and its subsidiaries.
Two of the Western Siberian gas producer’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Arctic LNG-1 and Novatek-Yurkharovne egas, placed bids for the licence on August 7, according to the ministry. Results will be revealed on August 30.
e Soletsko-Khanaveiskoye contract area spans 6,000 square km of the Gydan Penin- sula, east of Novatek’s Geofizicheskoye and East-Bugornoye gas deposits. It holds an esti- mated 154.7bn cubic metres of gas in C1+C2 reserves, and as much as 1.8tn cubic metres in
total in-place resources.
Under a decree signed by Russian Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier this year, the starting price at the auction has been set at 2.4bn rubles ($38mn). e awarded licence will be valid for 27 years.
Novatek has asked authorities to ringfence resources on the Gydan Peninsula to support its LNG expansion plans, much to the frustration of state-owned Gazprom and other operators vying for acreage in the Arctic. Novatek is preparing to take a nal investment decision (FID) later this year on its 19.8mn tonne per year Arctic LNG-2 export project. e terminal is due on stream in 2022-2023, and will join the nearby 16.5mn tpy Yamal LNG that Novatek commissioned in late 2017.
In related news, oil producer Gazprom Ne revealed to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency on August 13 it had secured licences for two blocks further east of Gydan, on the Taimyr Peninsula. e blocks, which span more than 890 square km, were awarded without an auction and are unexplored. ™
Block Energy continues West Rustavi sidetracking work
GEORGIA
The sidetracking project is aimed at expand output to 4,000-5,000 bpd.
LONDON-LISTED Block Energy has mobi- lised a rig for a new horizontal sidetrack well at its West Rustavi oil and gas eld in western Georgia, the company said in a stock exchange ling on August 8.
e A50 rig, provided by local drilling con- tractor Norio Oil, will sink the sidetrack at the 38Z well, situated adjacent to the 16aZ well which Block brought back on stream last month. 16aZ was drilled earlier this year, achieving an impressive test ow rate of 1,100 barrels per day (bpd) of oil – more than three times what Block had anticipated. Both 16aZ and 38Z are targeting the same Middle Eocene formation.
West Rustavi is one of three elds operated by Block near the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It holds 0.9mn barrels of proven and probable oil reserves, along with best-estimate contingent resources of 38mn barrels of oil and 17.2bn cubic metres of gas.
Block raised its stake in the project from 71.5% to 100% earlier this month, in order to
gain greater leverage over its development. e company’s current sidetracking work is aimed at scaling up oil production to 4,000-5,000 bpd, which will help fund future investments at the site.
The longer-term aim is to appraise West Rustavi’s two gas discoveres by testing histori- cal wells and then develop them by drilling new ones. Potential production could be shipped via an existing pipeline that runs less than 8km from the eastern border of the West Rustavi area and is sold to the Georgian state to help ll a nearby underground gas storage (UGS) facility it is developing.
In addition to West Rustavi, Block also con- trols 100% and 90% respectively in the produc- ing Norio and Satskhenisi blocks in Georgia. It is one of the largest investors in the country’s upstream sector, which, though miniscule com- pared to those of neighbouring Russia and Azer- baijan, is poised for growth on the back of several new onshore projects. ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 32 14•August•2019