Fracking-fleet development forms part of a major domestic import-substitution project — on which Gazprom Neft is an industry partner — from the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation. An agreement on testing this fracking unit at the company’s facilities was signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2021.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is one of the most effective ways of increasing oil production at an asset and increasing the oil recovery factor (ORF), through the high-pressure injection of a mixture of fluids and a special proppant agent into oil-bearing strata, at a depth of several kilometres. This operation creates fissures in the rock, allowing oil to flow into the well. The longer these fissures are, the larger the reservoir area they cover, and the more hydrocarbons can be produced.