16 Sep 2021 15:15
LUKOIL AND GAZPROM NEFT CREATE JOINT VENTURE TO DEVELOP LARGE OIL AND GAS CLUSTER IN YAMAL-NENETS REGION
Today, in Saint Petersburg, PJSC LUKOIL and PJSC Gazprom Neft concluded an agreement on creating a joint venture (JV) to develop a major oil and gas cluster in the Nadym-Pur-Tazovsky area of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The document was signed by Vagit Alekperov, President of LUKOIL, and Alexander Dyukov, CEO of Gazprom Neft, in presence of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom PJSC.
The JV will be based on Meretoyakhaneftegaz LLC, a Gazprom Neft subsidiary. The Tazovskoye oil and gas condensate field, which was put on stream this June, will be at heart of the new production area. The venture is also to develop the Severo-Samburgskoye and Meretoyakhinskoye fields, as well as two Zapadno-Yubileyny license blocks. These areas currently undergo additional appraisal and pilot works, on which basis a development strategy for the cluster will be developed. Total geological reserves initially in place at this new cluster stand at over 1 billion tonnes of oil and about 500 bcm of gas. A considerable proportion of the reserves initially in place lie within the Achimov formation and are categorised as hard-to-recover reserves.
Meretoyakhaneftegaz is the first asset to be managed by LUKOIL and Gazprom Neft on a parity (50:50) basis. Over the next few months, the parties plan to prepare detailed binding documents on establishing the joint venture, as well to secure all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.
The companies will also look into further opportunities to expand their cooperation on several lucrative projects in their regions of operation in Russia.
"LUKOIL has always been giving a key priority to homeland projects; we see great prospects for them. The Company is interested in increasing its investment both into upstream and downstream projects in our country. We are actively developing new fields in West Siberia, Timan-Pechora, the Caspian and Baltic Seas, as well as in other Russian regions. We also keep implementing selective deep conversion projects at our refineries in Russia. Gazprom and Gazprom Neft has been our strategic partners for many years. Together, we can combine the best Russian technologies to develop this new massive hydrocarbon cluster in the region that we consider strategic - the Yamal-Nenets region. Its development will ensure additional hydrocarbon output, extra tax revenues to Russian budget, and have a multiplier effect for related industries," said Vagit Alekperov, President of LUKOIL PJSC.
"Our task is to effectively involve hydrocarbon reserves with a complex geological structure in the Arctic Circle into development. The joint efforts of the two companies will make it possible to apply the best technical solutions here. It should also be noted that the creation of the JV supports the further development of the strategic partnership between the Gazprom Group and LUKOIL," said Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom PJSC.
"Developing those fields covered by our joint venture with LUKOIL is a critical task for our entire industry. This joint venture, bringing together our financial and technological resources, will see us working on developing hard-to-recover reserves, including producing oil from Achimov formation. This, in turn, will create new jobs and extra tax revenues at every level, as well as facilitating further technological development of our companies and the entire ecosystem of contractors and equipment producers," noted Alexander Dyukov, CEO, Gazprom Neft PJSC.
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Gazprom Neft's oil and gas production cluster in the Nadym-Pur-Tazovsky area includes the Tazovskoye, Meretoyakhinskoye and Severo-Samburgskoye fields, as well as two Zapadno-Yubileyny licence blocks. The Tazovskoye oil and gas condensate field was discovered in 1962. It is located 525 km away from the city of Salekhard. With its reserves it is among the largest fields in West Siberia: 419 million tonnes of oil and 225 bcm of gas. Full-scale commercial operation at the field was delayed because of its complex geology. The field's oil reserves occur in an oil-rim - a thin layer of oil between a "gas cap" and a water horizon. Their extraction demands drilling of high-tech wells, as complex as offshore ones.
Commercial production at the field started in June 2021. Annual output is expected to peak at 1.7 million tonnes of oil and 8 bcm of gas.
The Meretoyakhinskoye field is in its early production. Major geological prospecting works have been undertaken, on which basis the geological model of this asset, the development program and infrastructure solutions are being updated.
Oil initially in place at the Severo-Samburgskoye field is estimated at 460 million tonnes. Exploration wells at the field have been re-tested, high quality 3D-seismic undertaken, and two horizontal wells (involving multi-stage fracking) drilled. Plans for further geological prospecting investigations are now being updated in line with the information gathered, as is the asset's development strategy.
The Zapadno-Yubileyny blocks are part of the Nerutinskaya exploratory zone in the Nadymsky municipality of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. Extended geological and geophysical downhole surveys are undertaken there. Geological prospecting works are expected to be completed by 2024-2026, on which basis the business case for this project will be updated.
The Achimov formation refers to strata located in the lower part of Cretaceous sediments. Achimov reservoirs occur throughout practically the entire West-Siberian Basin, over an area covering more than 900 thousand square kilometres. The thickest formations have been identified in the Nadymsky and Purovsky municipalities of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. Achimov strata have a complex geological structure, requiring the use of sophisticated technologies in development. Specialists estimate total reserves at the Achimov formation to be around 60 billion tonnes of oil.