The Gazprom Management Committee took note of the progress with the Program for hydrocarbon resources exploitation on the Russian Federation shelf until 2030.
It was mentioned that the Russian continental shelf was a region of the Company’s strategic interest. A large hydrocarbon production center will be formed here and in future it will acquire great significance in Russia. The offshore resources development fully complies with Russia’s interests of assuring national energy security, boosting the reliability of gas supplies to consumers and fulfilling long-term export obligations.
The initial aggregate hydrocarbon resources of Russia’s continental shelf are evaluated at around 100 billion tons of fuel equivalent, of which some 80 per cent is gas. However, the Russian continental shelf is still poorly explored. For that reason, in 2011 and 2012 Gazprom was actively engaged in geological exploration across its license blocks within the Taz Bay, in the Kara Sea near Yamal as well as on the Western Kamchatka and Sakhalin shelves in the Sea of Okhotsk. During this period four exploratory and prospecting wells were drilled and 3D seismic surveys covering over three thousand square kilometers were performed. As a result, more than 200 million tons of fuel equivalent, including 182 billion cubic meters of gas, were added to the C1 reserves.
In 2013 Gazprom intends to drill two exploratory wells offshore Sakhalin. In addition, the Company submitted applications to Rosnedra to obtain 20 subsurface use licenses for blocks in the Barents, Kara, East Siberian and Chukchi Seas where a wide range of geological exploration activities are planned to be performed.
The Management Committee emphasized that the Company was paying special attention to the environmental safety of offshore operations. The ongoing projects went through the relevant public hearings and were approved by environmental and state experts.
This year production will start in the Kirinskoye gas and condensate field as part of the Sakhalin III project. To develop the field, the Company will apply the safest and most efficient technologies and advanced international practices. Gas will be extracted with the use of underwater production systems: this technology is unique for the Russian gas industry. The Onshore Processing Facility under construction will be expandable for the purpose of subsequently being connected to the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye and Mynginskoye fields discovered by Gazprom. In addition, the bidding documents were prepared for pre-investment studies covering the development of an Integrated Support Base for the Sakhalin offshore developments.
In 2013 the first oil will be produced from the Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Pechora Sea. An offshore ice-resistant stationary platform is installed at the field – the first platform of this kind designed and constructed in Russia. It is fully adapted to operation in harsh natural and climatic conditions and is optimized for maximum ice loads.
The Company continues preparing the documents needed for developing the Shtokmanovskoye field in the Barents Sea as well as the Severo-Kamennomysskoye and Kamennomysskoye-Sea fields in the Ob and Taz Bays.
Gazprom’s relevant structural units and subsidiary companies were assigned to adjust the Program for hydrocarbon resources exploitation on the Russian Federation shelf until 2030, taking into account new subsurface use licenses and updated commissioning timeframes for paramount fields. In addition, the task was given to prepare proposals on how to further improve the management structure for offshore operations.
Press Release, April 26, 2013