Gazprom Building up Resource Base

In 2014 Gazprom Group (excluding Gazprom Neft) performed exploratory drilling of above 125,000 m of rocks, constructed 32 prospecting and exploratory (7 and 25 accordingly) wells. Over six thousand linear kilometers of 2D seismic profiles were processed, 3D seismic survey covered in excess of 11 thousand square kilometers.

Exploration results

In the Russian Federation, prospecting drilling was performed across an area of more than 112 thousand meters of rocks. 30 prospecting and exploratory (24 exploratory and 6 prospecting) wells were constructed.

 Above six thousand linear kilometers of 2D seismic profiles were processed, 3D seismic survey covered the area of above 11 thousand square kilometers. In 2014 Gazprom Group added 936 million tons of fuel equivalent to explored hydrocarbon reserves through geological exploration, with 816 billion cubic meters of gas, 114 million tons of condensate and 6 million tons of oil.

 The gas replenishment coefficient made up 1.83. The additions were mostly due to exploration activities in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, offshore Sakhalin and in the Astrakhan gas and condensate field. The bulk of added reserves are located within the existing fields, which raises their economic significance.

The exploration activities in Russia resulted in the discovery of the Vostochno-Imbinskoye gas field in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The field C1+C2 reserves make up 14 billion cubic meters. Moreover, nine new hydrocarbon deposits were identified at the previously discovered fields in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, Tomsk Region and Krasnodar Territory containing a total of 55 million tons of fuel equivalent in commercial categories.

The biggest deposit was identified in the Jurassic sediments of the Pestsovoye field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. It contains 45 million tons of fuel equivalent (C1+C2), including 21 billion cubic meters of explored (C1) gas reserves.

Gazprom International, the Group’s operator of upstream projects abroad, drilled over 12 thousand meters of rocks in 2014. This helped to build an ultra-deep prospecting and appraisal well Shakhrinav-1p (6,450 meters) in Tajikistan. This is currently the deepest well in the entire oil and gas drilling history of Central Asia. The drilling operations made it possible to obtain unique information about the complex structure of the Shakhrinav area, thus enabling to optimize the project solutions as well as to outline more thoroughly the geological model and delineate further exploration targets. Besides, the drilling of exploratory well RSHN-1 (4,100 meters) resulted in a discovery of the North Rhourde Sayah field in Algeria.

Key projects and regions

In 2014 the main prospecting and exploration areas were the same: Yakutia, the Irkutsk Region, Sakhalin shelf, the Yamal Peninsula, the Nadym-Pur-Taz region, the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas.

According to the plans set, last year prospecting and exploration drilling exceeded 16 thousand meters of rocks, nine exploratory wells were built, and 3D seismic survey covered some two thousand square kilometers at the Chayandinskoye oil and gas field in Yakutia. At the Kovyktinskoye gas and condensate field, Irkutsk Region, over 6 thousand meters of rocks were drilled and 3D seismic covered an area of around 1,000 square meters. In Western Siberia over 69 thousand meters of rocks were drilled, 10 prospecting and exploratory wells were constructed and three thousand square kilometers of 3D seismic was performed.

Geological exploration is underway in the Sea of Okhotsk, in the Kirinsky, Vostochno-Odoptinsky, Ayashsky and Zapadno-Kamchatsky blocks. In 2014 two exploratory wells were constructed at the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye gas and condensate field, with 6,040 meters of rocks drilled. The wells testing made it possible to confirm the gas presence in the Upper Daginsk deposits. 3D seismic survey was performed across an area of 1.2 thousand square meters at the Vostochno-Odoptinsky licensed block, currently they are being processed and interpreted. At the Ayashsky and Zapadno-Kamchatsky blocks, the focus on placed on summing up the obtained exploration data and updating the geological models.

On the Kara Sea shelf, geological exploration is going on at the Semakovsky, Antipayutinsky and Tota-Yakhinsky licensed blocks. At the Kruzenshternsky block, the drilling of a directional well with a horizontal completion was initiated. Having a projected depth of 4.9 thousand meters, the well is meant to reach the Tanopchinskiye deposits (Barremian-Aptian).

Besides, last year preparations were initiated on the prospecting and estimation of all new offshore licensed blocks. By now, Gazprom holds licenses for 32 blocks on the Russian continental shelf: seven – in the Barents Sea, 20 – in the Kara Sea, including the Ob and Taz Bays, and five – in the Sea of Okhotsk. In 2013 Gazprom was granted 17 subsurface use licenses for the shelves of the Kara, Barents, Chukchi and East-Siberian Seas to perform exploration and production activities in line with the Russian Federation Government’s Directive. In 2014 the following operations were carried out at the licensed blocks of the Kara Sea: 2D seismic survey of above 5 thousand linear kilometers – at the Leningradsky, Rusanovsky, Zapadno-Sharapovsky, Severo-Kharasaveysky, Obruchevsky and Nevsky blocks, 3D seismic survey of above 3 thousand square kilometers – at the Nyarmeysky and Skuratovsky blocks.

Tight reserves

Gazprom is also active in developing tight reservoirs and fields with a complex geological structure located, in particular, in the Kuznetsk Coal Basin and the Nadym-Pur-Taz region of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. For instance, Gazprom continues the innovative project for coalbed methane production from Kuzbass coal fields according to the Russian President’s assignment.

In 2014 methane reserves were calculated in the coal seams of the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye coalbed methane field (Naryksko-Ostashkinskaya area), 26 exploratory wells of which being in test production. This year four exploratory wells with a total depth of above 2 thousand linear meters will be drilled as part of prospecting and estimation activities at the Tutuyasskaya area.

The development of hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves from the Turonian deposits of the Yuzhno-Russkoye and the Cenomanian deposits of the Medvezhye fields is in progress in the Nadym-Pur-Taz region. The Jurassic deposits are being currently explored. Namely, in 2014 a predictive model of reservoir properties was developed in the course of exploring hard-to-reach hydrocarbons in the Turonian deposits of the Yuzhno-Russkoye field. This model is based on applying inversion methods to high-density and high-resolution 3D shooting.

Two exploratory wells were constructed, with depth exploration carried out through comprehensive well logging techniques. Isolated core sampling was performed in three exploratory wells.