Gazprom Neft and the Tomsk Oblast Administration have agreed to extend their joint project on developing E&P technologies for Jurassic deposits,* under a document signed by Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and Tomsk Oblast Governor Sergey Zhvachkin at this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Supported by the Tomsk Oblast Administration, Gazprom Neft is developing a major project — its Paleozoic Project — in the region, directed at developing Jurassic hydrocarbon reserves. Implementing this project will allow the company to produce around another 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recover oil per year from 2025. Paleozoic reservoirs could account for up to half of all production in the Tomsk Oblast — around 10 million tonnes per year — in the future.
Gazprom Neft and the Tomsk Oblast are planning to establish Russia’s first technological facility for testing and deploying cutting-edge tools for prospecting for Jurassic reserves. The parties intend to establish a joint laboratory for specialist investigations and practical solutions. Collaboration in education and R&D activities on hard-to-recover reserves, as well as on optimising production at mature fields, remains ongoing.
Gazprom Neft and the Tomsk Oblast Administration also plan to develop a digital platform for the Paleozoic project. This innovative solution will include a virtual model (a “digital twin”) of the test-site, together with a cohesive and integrated database covering all investigations and pilot-testing, accessible to all project participants, online.
The document signed at SPIEF-2021 supplements the 2019 Memorandum on Technological Partnership under which Gazprom Neft and the Administration of the Tomsk Oblast confirmed the key areas for joint activities on the Paleozoic project — the outcomes of which will be utilised by Gazprom Neft in developing Paleozoic deposits both in the Tomsk Oblast and in other areas of Western Siberia.
“The Tomsk Oblast has proved itself a reliable partner in implementing the Paleozoic project. We have joined forces with the scientific community — mainly with Tomsk Polytechnic University — to develop effective domestic solutions in prospecting for and developing oil from Jurassic horizons. We expect to be putting forward a prototype of a Russian-developed exploration and production technology for use at Paleozoic hydrocarbons as soon as the end of 2021. This project is of considerable importance to the industry because Jurassic reserves have implications for developments in oil production not just in the Tomsk Oblast, but in other regions of Siberia as well. We expect this technology to be rolled-out in investigating and developing Paleozoic resources in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs by
2024–2025 .”
Alexander Dyukov Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft
“Finding new and effective production technologies for hard-to-recover hydrocarbons is a country-wide challenge. But our Tomsk scientists and production works have every chance of solving this problem together with Gazprom Neft’s powerful Science and Technology Directorate. What we need now is a technological breakthrough that will give a second wind to our oil industry. Together with Alexander Dyukov we have taken another step forward in bringing that breakthrough a bit closer.”
Sergey Zhvachkin Governor of the Tomsk Oblast
* The “Paleozoic Project” is directed at developing a viable technology for hydrocarbon exploration and prospecting at Jurassic formations. The project comprises two main areas: research and development, and exploratory drilling. The Gazpromneft Technology Partnerships’ Industrial Integration Centre will be the Operator on the project, with work being undertaken by specialists at Gazpromneft-Vostok together with Tomsk Polytechnic University and other organisations and higher educational institutions in the Tomsk Oblast.
A Cooperation Agreement on developing hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves was signed between Gazprom Neft and the Tomsk Oblast in 2016. The “Paleozoic” technology project was initiated in 2017.
Developing and rolling out effective tools for discovering Paleozoic deposits throughout Western Siberia is expected to result in annual production of Paleozoic oil increasing to 18 million tonnes. Experts estimate total reserves in place at Paleozoic deposits in this part of Russia to be more than 25 billion tonnes.
