Page 13 - FSUOGM Week 17 2021

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Gazprom, Wintershall launch

new Achimov block

RUSSIA RUSSIA’S Gazprom and Germany’s Wintershall Wintershall Dea manages 1A, where production
Dea have kicked off gas production at Block 5A started in 2011 and reached a 10bn cubic metre
The start-up at 5A of the Achimov layer of the giant Urengoy gas per year plateau rate in October 2019. Gazprom
follows the start-up at field in Western Siberia. is on its own at Block 2A, which has been flowing
4A in January. Both gas and condensate are now flowing since 2009 and produces up to 8.4 bcm per year,
from the site, which is undergoing commission- while Block 3A is yet to come on stream.
ing, Gazprom announced on April 21. The mile- Gazprom brought on board Wintershall Dea
stone comes three months after the pair started as a partner at 4A and 5A in 2015 with a 25%
producing gas from the adjacent Achimov 4A interest in each. It estimates that the blocks will
block. Gas from the two sites is being pumped produce more than 14 bcm of gas and 5mn
into Gazprom’s transmission system, the com- tonnes of condensate annually combined by
pany said. 2027. The company has also reached out to Aus-
Urengoy is one of Russia’s and the world’s tria’s OMV to take a stake in the projects, but the
largest gas fields, boasting an estimated 11 tril- pair are yet to close an investment deal.
lion cubic metres in reserves. It flowed its first OMV is more focused on divestments now
supplies in the 1970s, although development in rather than acquisitions, ever since closing its
the early decades was concentrated on the field’s $4.7bn purchase of an extra stake in petrochem-
Cenomanian and Valanginian layers, found at icals giant Borealis last October. The company’s
depths of between 1,110 and 3,200 metres. CEO, Rainer Seele, confirmed in February that
Gazprom started developing the deeper the expiry date for its option to take 25% posi-
Achimov layer, some 4,000 metres below the sur- tions at 4A and 5A had been pushed back three
face, a decade ago. It has split Urengoy’s Achimov years until 2025. With production now under-
reservoir into five blocks: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A and 5A. way, Gazprom may decide it no longer needs
Another Gazprom joint venture with more partners. ™

Rosneft wins rights to

new Sakhalin block

RUSSIA RUSSIA’S Rosneft has obtained exploration major withdrew from that partnership in 2012,
rights to a new block on the Sakhalin shelf in the however.
The block lies off the Russian Far East. Both 2D and 3D seismic surveys have been
northern tip of Sakhalin The government has granted the com- undertaken at Severo-Sakhalinsky, revealing a
Island. pany a licence for the Severo-Sakhalinsky number of small and medium-sized prospects.
(North-Sakhalinsky) area, without a state auc- No wells have been drilled in the area.
tion being held. The block lies in the waters of Rosneft’s largest project in the Far East is
the Sakhalin Gulf off the northern tip of Sakha- Sakhalin-1, which comprises the Chayvo,
lin Island. This is an area far less explored than Odoptu and Arkutun Dagi fields. It is partnered
the Sea of Okhotsk off Sakhalin’s east coast, there with ExxonMobil and Japanese consor-
where the Sakhalin-1, -2 and -3 fields are tium SODECO. The company’s subsidiary,
situated. RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz, also operates a num-
Severo-Sakhalinsky is 25,000 square km in ber of onshore and offshore, mostly mature fields
size and contains an estimated 222.4bn cubic in the area.
metres of gas and over 55mn tonnes (403mn Rosneft’s latest major exploration campaign
barrels) of liquids in inferred resources. It bor- in the Far East took place in 2016, when it drilled
ders the West-Schmidtovsky area, which forms two wells in the Sea of Okhotsk with Norwegian
part of the Sakhalin-5 project, where Rosneft partner Statoil, now known as Equinor. But both
was previously partnered with BP. The UK were reported as dry. ™

Week 17 28•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13