Rosneft Finds Gas in Far East
Russian oil firm Rosneft reported on January 12 the discovery of a large field containing over 75bn m3 of gas and 1.4mn metric tons of condensate in Russia's far eastern province of Yakutia.
The find was made during drilling at the Nizhnedzherbinsky licence area, operated by Rosneft's Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazdobycha (TYNGD) joint venture with foreign partners. The state company has a 50.1% stake in TYNGD, while BP has 20% and Indian firms Oil India, Indian Oil and Bharat PetroResources have 29.9%.
Rosneft said its specialists had confirmed the field's "high productivity," noting there was "significant potential" for further exploration. The field has been named after Ivan Kulbertinov, a famous Red Army sniper who fought in the Second World War and was born in Yakutia.
The discovery comes less than a month after Rosneft announced a pair of other gas finds in the Arctic Kara Sea, with more than 1.3 trillion m3 in combined resources. Those were named after prominent Red Army commanders Georgy Zhukov and Konstantin Rokossovsky.
TYNGD's main asset is the Srednebotuobinskoye oilfield, also in Yakutia, which delivers crude to Asia-Pacific markets via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline. But the company, which owns 10 licences in total, has not found a way to develop its gas reserves, which were estimated at 66bn m3 proved and probable by DeGolyer & MacNaughton in 2018.
Gazprom delivers gas from the Chayandinskoye gas field in Yakutia to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. But Gazprom's monopoly over Russian pipeline exports means that other producers in Russia's eastern regions have limited options for developing their gas resources, as local demand and infrastructure are limited.