Gazprom Plots More Kara Sea Wells

Russia’s Gazprom is preparing to sink two more wells in the Kara Sea after reporting a pair of major gas discoveries in the area earlier this year.

According to the company’s field services arm Gazprom Geologorazvedka, the wells will be drilled at the Skuratov and Leningrad blocks, using the Nanhai VIII semi-submersible rig owned by China Oilfield Services (COSL) and its own shipping division's Arctic rig. The units will be will towed from the Kola Bay to drill sites “in the near future”, the firm said. 

The Leningrad block contains a field of the same name first identified in 1990 and estimated to hold 1.9tn m³ in gas resources under Russia's classification system. Gazprom collected 1,000 km of 2D and 4,000 km² of 3D seismic data at the area between 2014 and 2017. It also completed an exploration well there two years ago.

Skuratov, located further east near the shore of the Yamal Peninsula, was subject to a 2D seismic campaign in the early 1990s. Gazprom went on to shoot 2,300 km² of 3D seismic work there between 2014 and 2018, in preparation for drilling.

Gazprom has looked towards the Russian Arctic for new fields to develop as output at Urengoi, Yamburg and its other main Western Siberian deposits continues to dwindle. In May it reported two fresh discoveries in the Kara Sea, Dinkov and Nyarmeisk, containing a combined 500bn m³ in resources. Its other major offshore asset in the area is Rusanovsk, identified in 1989 and believed to host 880bn m³ of gas.

While Gazprom’s exploration campaign in the Kara Sea has helped replenish its reserves, the company does not expect to bring any of its discoveries in the area on stream until the 2030s.