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FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Novatek secures Arctic gas find
RUSSIA
The deposit lies near Novatek’s other assets.
RUSSIA’S biggest private gas company Novatek has landed rights to a Soviet-era gas discovery on the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic.
e company, owned by Russian business- men Leonid Mikhelson and Gennady Tim- chenko, announced on August 30 it had obtained a 27-year exploration and production licence to the Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye eld.
e deposit lies near to several other Novatek assets, including the Geo zicheskoye, East-Bur- gornoye and Gydanskoye fields. Its reserves are estimated at 2.183bn cubic metres of gas and 212mn tonnes of liquids under Russian classi cations.
Novatek is expanding its resource base on the Gydan Peninsula to underpin an expansion in LNG production. It aims to take a nal invest- ment decision (FID) in the third quarter on con- structing the 19.8mn tonne per year (tpy) Arctic LNG-2 terminal on Gydan’s coast. Its partners in the venture include France’s Total, China’s CNPC and CNOOC and Japan’s Mitsui and JOGMEC.
Novatek secured a licence for Solet- sko-Khanaveyskoye at a state auction, through its Arctic LNG 1 subsidiary,
paying RUB2.59bn ($39mn). The only other contestant was another Novatek subsidiary, Novatek-Yurkharovne egaz.
Russia is intending to auction off another Arctic gas nd later this year, the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper reported on August 29, citing sources. e Khambateyskoye eld on the eastern shore of the Yamal Peninsula further east of Gydan is thought to hold 34 bcm of gas and 2.6mn tonnes of condensate. Operators will be invited to bid for a licence at a starting price of RUB1.8bn.
Gazprom Neft is likely to obtain the field, given its close proximity to the company’s Nov- oport oil project. e explorer recently expanded its Arctic footprint with the acquisition of a group of licences on the unexplored Taimyr Peninsula.
Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye and Kham- bateyskoye were both identified in 1987 by Soviet geologists but were initially considered too remote to develop. With the Arctic becom- ing a key focal point for development, Russia is considering providing private operators with access to o shore oil and gas resources.™
Private firm launches oilfield in Yakutia
RUSSIA
Yakutia is considered a frontier region for oil and gas exploration in Russia.
A private company has brought a new oil eld on stream in the Far Eastern region of Yakutia.
RNG, a subsidiary of Cyprus-based Eastsib Holding, started production on August 29 at the eastern blocks of the Srednetuobinskoye oil and gas condensate deposit, the company said on August 29. e area comprises 28mn tonnes (205mn barrels) of oil, 14.3bn cubic metres of gas and 168,000 tonnes of condensate.
Seven rigs are drilling production wells, with output slated to reach 1.2mn tonnes per year (tpy) (24,000 bpd) by 2020. Power lines, a cen- tral oil collection centre, oil recovery networks, water pipelines and reservoir pressure mainte- nance systems have also been installed at the site, RNG said.
Yakutia is considered a frontier region for oil and gas exploration. Its east comprises the known outer rim of the Eastern Siberian petro- leum basin. While large swathes of the territory have not been explored, authorities estimate its initial in-place resources at 22.9bn barrels of oil, 5.3bn barrels of condensate and 13.9tn cubic metres of gas.
Besides RNG’s portion, the rest of the Sred- netuobinskoye eld is operated by Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, a joint venture between state-owned Rosne , BP and several Indian oil rms. Other major projects in Yakutia include the Talakan elds, developed by private rm Sur- gutne egaz, and the Chayandinskoye gas eld owned by national gas supplier Gazprom.
“We see how the oil industry in Yakutia is born before our eyes,” the region’s governor, Aisen Nikolaev, said during a launch ceremony. “Until recently it was focused in the Lensky dis- trict, and today even the Mirny district is becom- ing an oil producer.”
Trial operations at RNG’s project were begun last year. Its oil is being pumped into the Eastern Siberia – Paci c Ocean (ESPO) pipeline system, used to supply crude to domestic re neries and Far Eastern ports, where it is loaded onto tankers for export throughout the Asia-Paci c area.
Eastsib Holding’s owners are undisclosed. Its parent rms are registered in Cyprus, while its chairman is Lord Frederick Ponsonby, a UK Labour Party peer. v™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 35 04•September•2019