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FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Rosneft moves forward with East Sib field
RUSSIA
Rosneft, BP and Indian partners are preparing to produce 100,000 bpd of oil from the Eastern Siberian field.
RUSSIA’S Rosneft and partners are pushing ahead with plans for the full-scale development of one of Eastern Siberia’s largest oilfields. The move comes as Russian producers prepare to ramp up production next month after Russia’s agreement with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members on supply cuts comes to an end.
State agency Glavgosexpertiza approved designs on March 20 for the construction of five well clusters at the central section of the Sredne- botuobinskoye oilfield in Russia’s Yakutia region. Plans for a sixth cluster were also submitted and are being examined.
The project’s scope also includes production facilities and various equipment and facilities, including a control unit, power supply infra- structure and pipelines.
Srednebotuobinskoye is divided into three separate blocks, only one of which is operated by Rosneft, through its subsidiary Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha (TYNGD). The Russian oil major acquired the central block in 2012 and had initially hoped to attract Chinese investment to bring the field into production.
After failing to cut a deal with China, it sold a 20% stake in TYNGD to long-time partner BP in 2013. It then divested a further 29.9% in 2016 to an Indian consortium of Oil India, Indian Oil and Bharat PetroResources.
In addition to the central block, TYNGD also has a licence for the nearby Kurungsky block. The company has an estimated 1.28bn barrels of oil and 66bn cubic metres of gas in proven and probable reserves, according to an appraisal by
DeGolyer and MacNaughton.
The central block flowed its first oil in 2013,
but output was initially capped at 20,000-24,000 barrels per day (bpd) because of infrastructure constraints. In 2017, however, Rosneft com- pleted a 168-km pipeline linking the field with the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipe- line system, allowing its oil to flow to Asia-Pacific markets. Output subsequently climbed to 58,000 bpd the following year.
The block’s full-scale development envisages a production plateau of 100,000 bpd. Rosneft had wanted to boost output to this level much sooner, but was unable to do so because of Moscow’s commitments under the OPEC+ pact. Russia earlier this month refused to take part in any fur- ther supply cuts, leaving it free to increase flows.
Rosneft is understood to be preparing to raise its production by 300,000 bpd within a week or two of the OPEC+ agreement expiring.
Srednebotuobinskoye is one of a number of greenfield projects that Rosneft had held back because of OPEC+ restrictions. The others are the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye, Kuyumbin- skoye and Taas-Yuryakh fields in Eastern Siberia, which would supply most of their oil to China and the Asia-Pacific region, and the Kondin- skoye, Russkoye and East-Messoyakhskoye in Western Siberia.
The other two Srednebotuobinskoye blocks are owned by private companies. RNG, a unit of Cyprus-based Eastsib Holding, brought the east- ern block on stream in September last year and is targeting an output of 24,000 bpd this year.
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