Today, Gazprom is active in a whole range of promising areas relating to innovative development. These include such technological innovations as:

• platform-based borehole geophysical survey systems and homegrown innovative technologies for directional drilling of wells based on a rotary steerable system;
• advanced methods of enhanced oil and gas recovery, engineering solutions for follow-up development of low-pressure Cenomanian gas deposits and development of deep-lying hydrocarbons and hydromineral raw materials for the production of iodine and lithium compounds;
• 3D modeling of fields and underground gas storage facilities;
• innovative gas transportation technologies;
• technologies for processing complex feedstock to expand the lineup of derived products, advance NGV and hydrogen technologies, promote the LNG business, and support the use of alternative and distributed energy sources.

All our investment projects are based on the latest available sci-tech solutions, including those developed jointly with the Gazprom Group.

For instance, a new gas production center is being actively shaped in the Yamal Peninsula and adjacent waters, which hold enormous gas reserves. The center will eventually become key to the development of the Russian gas industry. In 2020, pilot development plans were prepared for the Kruzenshternskoye and Kamennomysskoye-Sea fields. Updates to the Program for complex development of the Yamal Peninsula and its offshore areas until 2050 were initiated with due regard for the main technical solutions. The Program seeks to unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the region in a comprehensive and efficient manner, taking into account geological exploration data, including estimates of potential recovery of natural gas with a high content of C₂₊ components. In the future, the resource base of the Yamal Peninsula and adjacent waters will make a significant contribution to the reliability of feedstock supplies for the emerging gas processing and gas chemical industries.

To facilitate efficient development of helium-containing resources in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, an updated digital geotechnical model of production facilities at the Chayandinskoye oil, gas and condensate field has been created and recommendations have been issued to regulate well productivity according to the updated model. The membrane technology of helium recovery from natural gas has been successfully created and introduced at the Chayandinskoye oil, gas and condensate field. It is also going to be deployed at the Kovyktinskoye gas and condensate field.

Production and comprehensive processing of formation fluid for obtaining hydromineral products are a promising way to better utilize the resource potential of Gazprom’s fields. When fields are developed, formation saltwater containing a wealth of valuable chemical components is produced in significant volumes along with hydrocarbons.

For instance, pre-development of the Kovyktinskoye field included a geophysical survey and a resource base appraisal for setting up the production of lithium compounds and other useful components from formation brines, with resulting engineering solutions for the extraction, processing and disposal of formation brines.

Similar activities are being pursued in the Krasnodar Territory with a view to setting up the production of iodine and iodine-containing products that are highly sought after in the domestic market. The research will help identify promising development targets and appraise the resource base, as well as justify the practicability and cost effectiveness of joint production of hydrocarbons and industrial formation waters from the gas fields in the Krasnodar Territory.

The following engineering solutions were introduced in 2020 to maintain the reliable, uninterrupted and efficient operation of the gas transmission system and UGS facilities:

• mechanized and manual ultrasonic inspection of welded joints of pipeline fittings during refurbishment;
• algorithms for adaptive control of physical field parameters using acoustic, eddy-current and visual (television) methods of non-destructive testing;
• basis of design for underground reservoirs in thin layers of salt rock.

The gas chemical business development strategy of the Gazprom Group envisages the creation of innovative production facilities to produce target amounts of derived products, such as ethane, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas liquids, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. Studies are underway for a possible expansion of the ethane-containing gas (ECG) production system in the Nadym-Pur-Taz region in parallel with design works to build a separate ECG transportation system that could deliver feedstock to high-potential processing facilities (such as the ECG processing and LNG production complex near Ust-Luga and the gas processing plant in the Republic of Tatarstan).

The Innovative Development Program of Gazprom also identified the key innovative projects, which are currently in progress. These include low-carbon technologies for hydrogen and methane-hydrogen fuel production; a domestically-produced manned underwater vehicle (MUV) for offshore gas pipeline operation; technical aids and technologies for horizontal well drilling, borehole geophysical survey systems, etc.

Within the project for creating a domestic MUV, the vehicle’s engineering design has been completed, engineering documentation has been developed for the manufacturing of prototypes, and breadboard models of the key components have been made. The project is being carried out by a consortium of major domestic R&D enterprises, namely Kurchatov Institute, Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, and others. The project is slated to be completed in 2023.

The growing share of hard-to-recover reserves and uncertainties regarding oil and gas prices necessitate the introduction of high-tech solutions to improve the efficiency of development operations and reduce production costs. In this regard, Gazprom is carrying out research to produce a Russian technology for directional drilling on the basis of a rotary steerable system, as well as to manufacture a high-tech research complex for the construction of directional wells.

The implementation of this technology in well construction will reduce the time required for well drilling, increase the horizontal length of wells, decrease the accident rate, cut down idle time, and ensure high precision drilling in pay zones.

When it comes to the development of fields with complex geological structure and hard-to-recover reserves, the requirements to the information value and effectiveness of geophysical well exploration increase accordingly. It has to be noted that Russian R&D achievements in the geophysical instrument making industry are objectively inferior to their foreign alternatives. With this in mind, Gazprom is looking to create a platform-based system of hardware and methods for geophysical well exploration with the use of multiple sonde measurement systems that possess enhanced vertical resolution, are integrated into modular well-logging tools, and perform high-speed two-way telemetry with real-time transmission of data to an above-ground data processing unit.

The implementation of this project will increase the productivity, effectiveness and information value of geophysical exploration works conducted in exploration and production wells, ensure the uniformity of geophysical information for geological interpretation and calculation of hydrocarbon reserves, and reduce the construction costs of exploration and production wells both onshore and offshore.

I would like to draw special attention to the digitalization of production processes. Digital technologies are already an integral part of our world, and it is impossible to achieve leadership without intelligent control and management systems. Current trends in this area involve digital modeling and experimental studies of natural environmental processes, development of software packages for processing and interpreting geological and geophysical data, and so on. Said R&D achievements will facilitate the construction of virtual images of production facilities, thereby accelerating the development of new machinery and equipment prototypes, engineering, and construction. On top of that, artificial intelligence could allow us to make a breakthrough in the modeling of gas market evolution.

One example of the efforts made towards advanced implementation of digital technologies is the pilot project for creating the Digital Twin of the Yuzhno-Russkoye field, which is being developed by Severneftegazprom.

The project is implemented as part of the sci-tech cooperation between Gazprom and Wintershall Dea and is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the joint operation of Cenomanian and Turonian deposits via a unified gas gathering network, as well as at optimizing the capital and operational costs of their joint venture, Severneftegazprom.

The software and algorithms of the Digital Twin, including its artificial intelligence elements, will make it possible to automatically improve the accuracy of physical and process simulation models on the basis of up-to-date information on the current condition of all process chain links, as well as to maintain uninterrupted modeling of the “formations – wells – gas gathering network” geological and process system on the basis of real-time data, to test various scenarios of process control on the model, and to assess the economic efficiency of development operations.

We have initiated the creation of the Unified Digital Platform for managing Gazprom’s investment projects. The main goal is to introduce the same set of IT solutions for all parties to a construction process in order to eliminate duplication and distortion of information, speed up decision making, and provide all participants with the same set of up-to-date tools and data required.

We plan to achieve this goal through, inter alia, creating uniform methodological approaches, developing 3D information models, applying cognitive technologies for expert review of design documentation, and using predictive analytics techniques and the Internet of Things in modeling and monitoring the progress of investment projects.

It should be highlighted that, in addition to technological innovations, Gazprom extensively develops and uses organizational innovations.

The year 2020 saw active work on enhancing the system of long-term forecasting, cost management, and UGSS modeling.

Listed below are some of the results of this work:

• the comprehensive program for the reconstruction and re-equipment of gas production and transmission facilities of Gazprom for 2021–2025;
• the comprehensive program for the reconstruction and re-equipment of gas and liquid hydrocarbon processing facilities for 2021–2025;
• a unified model for calculating the economic performance indicators of Gazprom’s investment projects;
• the economic and mathematical model entitled “Probabilistic model for forecasting the costs for transmission of Russian gas to Europe in the long term”;
• the program for the development of the mineral and raw material base of Gazprom until 2045;
• a model for long-term forecasting of inter-country supplies and in-country pipeline gas and LNG flows across the world;
• comprehensive development scenarios of off-grid gas supply and distributed gas-fired power generation taking into account the implementation of the Gas House Concept.

The Company actively employs patent analytics tools as a comprehensive aid for defining the areas of Gazprom’s innovative development, preparing research and development plans and choosing R&D topics.

The key objectives for the development and practical use of these tools are as follows:

• to determine whether R&D activities requested by Gazprom and its subsidiaries are viable;
• to identify patenting trends for a wide range of our technological priorities;
• to carry out technical analysis in line with the technological priorities of Gazprom;
• to analyze up-to-date patenting strategies employed by companies for legal protection of intellectual property in promising markets.

All these projects and activities serve to continuously upgrade the technological and organizational development at Gazprom as is provided for by the Innovative Development Program.