Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 40 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Epsilon reports strong gas flows in Uzbekistan
UZBEKISTAN
Uzbekistan’s gas industry is dominated by major Russian and Chinese players.
PRIVATE gas producer Epsilon Development has reported completing two highly productive wells in late September and early October, the company has reported.
The US-incorporated firm, alleged to have Russian owners, managed to test-flow the Naz- arkuduk-4 well at a rate of 1mn cubic metres per day, after fracking the borehole to a depth of 3,700 metres. The Nazarkuduk deposit lies within the Kultak-Kamashynsky block in Uzbekistan’s southern Kashkadarya province. Epsilon is partnered at the site with state-owned Uzbekneftegaz (UNG).
Kultak-Kamashynsky was one of five blocks Epsilon was awarded rights by Uzbek authorities to at the end of last year. The Nazarkuduk-4 well was drilled prior to Epsilon taking over the pro- ject, by UNG. At its completion, it flowed at a rate of only 25,000 cubic metres per day.
Epsilon kick-started commercial opera- tions in Uzbekistan earlier this year and aims to scale up production to 25 mcm per day by
October-end from 3.7 mcm in mid-Septem- ber. On September 27, it also flowed 400,000 cubic metres per day during tests at an explo- ration well at the North Mubarek field. This borehole, completed by local contractor Eri- ell, targeted depths of below 2,100 metres and was also fracked. Uzbekistan’s energy ministry remarked that this was the first time forma- tions had been tested at such depths in almost 70 years.
After assuming power in late 2016, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev called for a signif- icant expansion in drilling activity to help lift the gas industry out of stagnation. UNG was tasked with drilling 300 new exploration and develop- ments by the end of 2019, of which 248 have been completed so far, by Eriell.
UNG, Russia’s Lukoil and China’s CNPC account for the bulk of gas production in Uzbek- istan. Other players include Russian state-owned Gazprom and several joint ventures between
UNG and private Uzbek
companies. ™
Gazprom Neft finetunes Bazhenov technology
The Bazhen Technology Centre, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, has undertaken the first 18-stage fracking operation in Russia, at the Bazhenov Formation. High-tech fracking, coupled with the extended length of the horizontal section, has doubled oil inflow from the well.
Gazprom Neft has undertaken a fracking operation unique to the industry at the Bazhenov Formation, setting records in terms of the number of stages, and the speed and volume of fluid injection into strata. Fluid was injected into the strata at a speed of 14 cubic metres per minute, involving total fluid injection of 2,000 cubic metres — a 3.5-fold and six-fold increase on industry averages, respectively, facilitating a 2.2-fold increase in inflows of Bazhenov oil.
The Bazhen Technology Centre is consistently improving fracking technologies, experimenting with fracking-fluid composition and volumes, injection speeds, and the number of fracking stages involved. New approaches to developing the Bazhenov
RUSSIA
Gazprom Neft, Shell to invest RUB130bn in new JV
Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Shell plan
to invest about RUB130bn in their Meretoyakhaneftegaz joint venture, Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov told channel Rossiya 24 in an interview on October 2.
“Concerning the flagship project of our joint venture... the Tazovsky project, is 6.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year. Concerning investments, we plan to invest more than 130 billion rubles together,” Dyukov said.
These funds will be allocated during
the project’s first stage. Output is expected to peak at more than 10mn tonne of oil equivalent per year. Work on closing a deal continues.
“We are sure that we will close the deal until the end of this year or the beginning of next,” the Gazprom Neft head said.
Meretoyakhaneftegaz has a subsoil licence for the Meretoyakhinskoye field.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Once the deal is finalised, the JV will also have licences for the Tazovsky, Severo- Samburgsky, and two Zapado-Yubileiny blocks in the Yamalo-Nenets region of Western Siberia.
October 2 2019
Rosneft improves
oil recovery at
Verkhnechonskoye
Verkhnechonskneftegaz (VCNG), a subsidiary of Rosneft, has employed a new physicochemical to boost oil recovery at the Verkhnechonskoye field in Eastern Siberia
In a statement, the company said it had recovered an extra 54% more oil using the technique in 2018 compared with the previous year. The method ensures uniform injection
of water across all intervals in the well. In 2019-2023, Rosneft plans to extract an extra 221,000 tonnes of oil from the field using the technology, including 34,000 tonnes in 2019.
October 3 2019
Week 40 09•October•2019
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