Page 12 - FSUOGM Week 40 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Novatek gears for Arctic development
RUSSIA
Novatek has mostly focused on Gydan exploration in recent years.
NOVATEK, Russia’s leading independent gas producer, is gearing up to explore the Syadorsky licence area in the northern section of the Yamal Peninsula.
The company has been seeking a contractor to collect 390 square km of 3D seismic work at the block this upcoming winter season, its regional unit Yurkharovneftegaz said in a tender notice. Bids will be accepted until midday Octo- ber 11, and results will be published no later than December 6. The selected contractor will then need to finish mobilising equipment, temporary living facilities and workers at the work site by December 20.
Novatek won subsoil rights to Syadorsky in September 2016, paying RUB404mn ($6.2mn) for a 25-year licence. The 2,100-square km tract north-west of the port of Sabetta is estimated to contain 24.6bn cubic metres in C1+category reserves. Recoverable resources are assessed at 62.7 bcm and 138mn barrels of liquids.
Under the terms of the licence, Novatek
is required to shoot seismic data and sink two exploration wells within five years. The company was initially slow to move forward with apprais- ing the tract, instead concentrating on work on the neighbouring Gydan Peninsula. It is here where Novatek plans to commission its next LNG export terminal, Arctic LNG-2, in 2023.
Novatek, France’s Total and their Chinese and Japanese partners took a final investment decision (FID) on Arctic LNG-2’s construction in September. At peak capacity, it will produce around 19.8mn tonnes per year (tpy) of liquefied gas exports.
Novatek has also held several more work ten- ders in the Arctic over the past month. Among these, on October 3 it invited bids for the drill- ing of 28 production wells at four clusters at the West-Seyakhinskoye field and another 25 wells at the Yerkhnetiuteyskoye field. Both are located on Yamal and were acquired by Novatek back in 2017. The pair could underpin an expansion in Yamal LNG’s existing capacity. ™
Regal reports “excellent” gas flows at new Ukrainian well
UKRAINE
The well flowed at a rate equivalent to 25% of Regal’s existing output.
REGAL Petroleum, a London-listed junior explorer working in northeast Ukraine, has test- flowed a new gas and condensate well, achieving a rate equivalent to 25% of its output in the first half of the year.
The MEX-119 exploration well was spudded at the Mekhediviska-Golotvshinska field back in February and has been completed to a depth of 4,822 metres, Regal said in a stock exchange filing on October 8. The well, targeting B-20 res- ervoirs in the Visean formation, was tested at a depth of between 4,804 and 4,816 metres, it said.
Test flows of gas condensate were “strong”, stabilising at around 142,000 cubic metres per day of gas and 193 barrels per day of conden- sate after the well was hooked up to processing facilities.
“We are delighted with the results of this new development well, which was drilled safely and successfully,” CEO Sergii Glazunov said in a statement. “The flow rates demonstrated are excellent and a significant boost to our overall production volumes.”
Total hydrocarbon output averaged 1,070 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the test, compared with Regal’s overall production rate of 4,192 boe per day in the first half of 2019.
The company managed to boost output at the Mekhediviska-Golotvshinska, Svyrydivske and Vasyschevskoye fields by 50% in the six months.
Despite this gain, Regal suffered a 71% drop in profits to $13.3mn in the period because of a $34.5mn impairment charge it reversed a year earlier. Revenues nevertheless rose by 27% to $31.3mn thanks to production growth, counter- ing the effect of lower gas prices. Cash flow from operations also expanded by 34.3%, arriving at $13.1mn.
Regal has drilled new wells, installed new processing and transport infrastructure and undertaken further geological work at its three fields, in order to scale up production and replenish reserves. It has funded this develop- ment plan solely from existing cash resources and earnings from production. ™
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Week 40 09•October•2019