LONDON (Alliance News) - PetroNeft PLC Friday said production from License 61 in Russia has experienced a small fall but said it continues to develop its Russian assets to double production before the end of the year.
The Russia-focused company said production is currently 1,950 barrels of oil per day which is slightly down from the 2,000 barrel per day figure it gave in March. Petroneft is aiming to increase production to between 3,500 to 4,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2015 after it conducts its drilling programme.
At the Sibkrayevskoye field, the 373 appraisal well has been successfully drilled and tested, which was designed as a follow-up to the S-372 discovery well, which was drilled in 2011, to further delineate the oil field. Log and core data over the primary J1 sandstone reservoir interval indicate 11.5 metres of net oil pay.
The well has achieved a stabilised flow rate of 100 barrels of oil per day, but Petroneft said this could be higher if it was using a electrical submersible pump.
A development decision is expected in the third quarter of 2015 with a view of bring the field into production in 2016 utilising a combination of horizontal and vertical wells.
"We are very pleased with the S-373 well results. We have confirmed good continuity of the main reservoir interval and an encouraging unstimulated oil production rate of 100 barrels of oil per day with natural flow," said Chief executive Dennis Francis.
The construction of the 25 kilometre pipeline and utility line to connect the Tungolskoye field back to the Lineynoye Central Processing Facility has been completed ahead of schedule and is currently being commissioned. The pipeline is currently being filled with oil from the T-5 well.
The Tungolskoye T-51B well has been spudded. This well is designed as a vertical producer and stratigraphic control well in the south western part of the field. In total, the company is expecting to drill five to six horizontal wells and five to six vertical wells as part of the Tungolskoye field development.
The drilling campaign on drilling pad four on the Arbuzovskoye field has also been completed. The drilling has confirmed oil in the southern lobe of the structure and the oil-down-to has been extended to the spill point of the structure.
The L-10 horizontal well has been spudded on the West Lineynoye field and is currently producing 50 barrels of oil per day from a vertical section of the J1-1 sandstone. The well will be drilled from a surface location near the L-8 well and can immediately be tied-into the Lineynoye central processing facilities utilising the existing L-8 infrastructure.
"We are also pleased that new production wells are now underway at both the Tungolskoye and Lineynoye oil fields. Current production is about 1,950 barrels of oil per day and based on recent results, we continue to expect to almost double this figure by the end of the year," said Francis.
PetroNeft shares were up 1.6% to 4.85 pence per share on Friday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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