* Gazpromneft-Zapolyarye is developing Achimovsky deposits at license block 3A at the Urengoyskoye oil and gas condensate field.

** Long-term risk-operatorship contracts mean Gazprom Neft is able to conduct activities at Gazprom assets on terms identical to those applying to licenses it owns: meaning reserves, production and financial results can be consolidated. A key feature of operating under these kinds of contracts is that Gazprom Neft invests its own resources in geological prospecting and infrastructure development.

By working on the basis of long-term risk-operatorship contracts the company has significantly increased its project portfolio, having started developing oil-rim deposits, Achimovsky deposits, and Jurassic—Necomian gas and gas-condensate deposits. Gazpromneft-Zapolyarye is currently developing parts of nine fields for which licenses are held by Gazprom and its subsidiaries: the Pestsovoye, En-Yakhinskoye, Zapadno-Tarkosalinskoye, Chayandinskoye, Yamburgskoye, Orenburgskoye, Urengoyskoe, Kharasaveiskoye and Bovanenkovskoye fields.

*** Gazprom Dobycha Nadym LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom PJSC. The company’s key activities are the production and treatment of gas and gas condensate.

Gazprom Dobycha Nadym was the first gas production company in the north of Western Siberia. It was created to develop and operate the Medvezhye oil and gas condensate field. It is now also involved in production at the Yubileynoye, Yamsoveyskoye, and Bovanenkovskoye fields. The company holds the license to develop the Kharasaveyskoye gas and condensate field, where pre-development is in progress.

Area of activity: the Nadymsky, Purovsky, and Yamalsky Districts of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Gazprom Dobycha Nadym is the main employer in the town of Nadym and the settlement of Pangody. The company’s headcount numbers more than 10,000 employees.

Gazprom Dobycha Nadym has 13 operating gas facilities and 15 specialised branches. The annual gas production of the company is over 100 billion cubic metres.

The company has adopted an environmental management system in accordance with the ISO 14001:2015 standard.

**** Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom PJSC, established to develop the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field. Its production facilities include 22 gas-treatment plants, two oil fields, 20 booster compression stations, five gas cooling stations, two APG-utilisation compressor stations, a condensate pumping station, and more than 2,800 wells.

The plant’s total headcount stands at more than 12,000. The company’s head office is located in Novy Urengoy.

An “oil rim” reservoir is one that forms part of an oil or oil-and-gas-condensate deposit in which gas constitutes a considerably greater volume than oil. It is, in fact, a thin seam between a significantly larger gas cap and a water-bearing stratum. The effective development of such geologically complex resources demands the use of new technological solutions in drilling complex wells, identifying ways of lifting liquid with a high gas content, and extreme precision in integrated design engineering.

Achimov deposits are strata located in the lower part of Cretaceous (chalk) deposits almost directly above the oil-bearing Bazhenov formation — a group of geological formations in Western Siberia, located at depths of two, three and four kilometres. The Achimov strata occur throughout the central zone of the West Siberian basin, with the most important being found in the Nadymsky and Purovsky Districts of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Achimovsky strata are characterised by complex geological structure, necessitating the use of technologically complex techniques in developing these reserves.

Jurassic-Necomian gas and gas-condensate deposits are deep formations at the Kharasaveyskoye and Bovanenkovskoye fields, belonging to the lower part of the Melovaya and Jurassic systems, located at depths of 1,600–3,300 metres and marked by challenging geological conditions including high reservoir pressure and often-low reservoir permeability.

THE BOVANENKOVSKOYE FIELD

The largest field in the Yamal Peninsula in terms of explored gas reserves, with initial reserves estimated at 4.9 trillion cubic metres (tcm), Gazprom started production at this field in 2012. Target production at the Bovanenkovskoye field is 115 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, which will subsequently increase to 140 billion bcm once Neocomian-Jurassic deposits are included.

THE KHARASAVEYSKOYE FIELD

Located in the Yamal Peninsula, north of the Bovanenkovskoye field, this field is mainly onshore, with part extending into the waters of the Kara Sea. The field is deemed unique in terms of its gas reserves, which stand at two trillion cubic metres. Gazprom began making preparations for the full-scale development of Cenomanian-Aptian gas deposits at the Kharasaveyskoye field in March 2019.

THE URENGOYSKOYE FIELD

The Urengoyskoye field is the largest oil and gas condensate field in Russia, deemed “super-gigantic” in terms of its hydrocarbon reserves. Initial gas reserves stand at more than 10 trillion cubic metres. The field was discovered in June 1966, with production starting in 1978. Commercial oil-well production here started in 1987. Gas and condensate have been produced from Achimovsky deposits here since 2008.

Photo — the Bovanenkovskoye oil and gas field in the Yamal Peninsula (© Gazprom Dobycha Nadym LLC).