Page 14 - FSUOGM Week 41 2019

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Novatek makes field progress
RUSSIA
The gas producer has launched a new field and has Arctic drilling plans.
RUSSIA’S largest independent gas producer Novatek has commissioned a new field in West- ern Siberia and initiated plans to drill a new well in the Arctic.
Arcticgas, Novatek’s joint venture with state- owned Gazprom Neft, has launched production at the East-Urengoyskoye+North-Esetinskoye field situated in the Samburgsky block. The field is set to flow 1bn cubic metres of gas and 0.2mn tonnes of condensate.
Novatek has already seen its production surge this year on the back of the launch of the Yamal LNG export terminal in late 2017 and a raft of domestic acquisitions. Gas output was up 11.1% in the first nine months of 2019, at 55.88 bcm, while extraction of liquids increased by 3.3% to 9.06mn tonnes of oil equivalent.
Novatek is also preparing to drill a third exploration well as part of the Obsky LNG pro- ject. Its subsidiary Obsky SPG disclosed a ten- der notice this month, stating its plan to sink the 500R exploration well on the Upper-Tiuteyskoye field next May.
Upper Tiuteyskoye and the neighbouring West-Seyakhinskoye field will serve as the main resource base for Obsky LNG, a 4.8mn
tonne per year LNG export plant due on stream in 2023. Novatek has said it will decide on a final investment decision (FID) by mid- 2020. Obsky LNG will be sited next to Yamal LNG, situated at the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula.
Novatek earlier revealed plans to drill two other wells at Upper Tiuteyskoye and West-Seyakhinskoye, and local contractor Novourengoyskaya Drilling was hired for the job. Combined, the deposits contain an esti- mated 200 bcm of gas.
Further ahead, Novatek intends to drill 25 development wells in three clusters at Upper-Ti- uteyskoye between 2020 and 2025, along with a further 59 in five clusters at West-Seyakhin- skoye. Russian and international contractors have been invited to bid for the work by a dead- line of October 17.
Obsky LNG will be a unique project for Novatek, as unlike its other export terminals the three-train facility will be built using only Russian equipment and technology. It will use Novatek’s own Arctic Cascade liquefaction tech- nology, which takes advantage of the cold Arctic air to chill the gas. ™
Gazprom collects seismic off Arctic coast
RUSSIA
Potential discoveries could be tied to a field straddling the coast of Yamal.
GAZPROM has finished shooting a 3D seismic survey on Russia’s Arctic continental shelf.
The North-Kharasaveysky block lies in the Kara Sea, bordering the shore of the Yamal Pen- insula. It lies adjacent to the Kharasaveyskoye gas field straddling the coast, where Gazprom began production drilling earlier this year.
Gazprom’s survey at North-Kharasaveysky covered an area of 1,875 square km, including 986 square km in shallow waters, the company said in a statement on October 8. The work was carried out by two seismic vessels – the Akade- mik Nemchinov and the Akademik Primakov.
Gazprom has collected 20,000 square km of 3D seismic data in the Kara Sea over the past five years, it said.
“Our experience in researching the Arctic shelf indicates that obtaining high-quality geo- physical data at licensed areas where explora- tion drilling will take place in the future greatly increases its accuracy and efficiency,” Vsevolod Cherepanov, director general of Gazprom’s exploration arm, commented.
The survey at North-Kharasaveysky was targeting Cretaceous and Middle-Jurassic lay- ers, which Cherepanov said comprised the site’s
main oil and gas potential. North-Kharasaveysky lies in waters 30-50
metres deep. Gazprom obtained a licence for North-Kharasaveysky in 2013, but held back on exploration work for several years because of low oil prices. The collection of 3D seismic data is typically the final stage of research before drilling begins, but Gazprom has not said when it aims to sink its first well at the site.
Any discoveries at North-Kharasaveysky could potentially be tied up to infrastructure at the Kharasaveyskoye field, bringing down devel- opment costs. Kharasaveyskoye is due on stream in 2023, producing up to 32bn cubic metres per year of gas. This gas will be pumped via pipeline to the larger Bovanenkovo field – Russia’s largest Arctic gas project – and dispatched to markets in Europe. ™
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Week 41 16•October•2019