Gazprom Neft extends licence for developing the Novoportovskoye field to 2150

Gazpromneft Yamal LLC has successfully extended its licence for the development of the Novoportovskoye field, says Gazprom Neft. The Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency (Rosnedra) extended this Gazprom Neft subsidiary’s subsoil usage rights to 2150 making it now the longest licence term of all assets in the Gazprom Neft portfolio. CJSC Messoyakhaneftegaz (jointly owned by Gazprom Neft and Rosneft) has previously been awarded subsoil usage rights to the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye oil and gas condensate field to 2140.

A well-balanced development plan and a long-term licence agreement at the Novoportovskoye field give Gazpromneft Yamal a viable legal basis for implementing its production programme. Major construction of field infrastructure is currently ongoing at the Cape Kammeny settlement, wherethe Arctic Gates export terminal and Novy Port are located. Long-term planning means that Gazpromneft-Yamal will be able to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies in enhanced oil recovery, ensuring the viable development of the field.

The Novoportovskoye field is one of the most significant oil and gas condensate fields currently under development in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Recoverable C1 and C2 reserves are estimated at more than 250 million tonnes of crude and condensate, as well as more than 320 billion cubic metres of gas (including Paleozoic deposits). The field is located in the south—east of the Yamal Penninsula in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, some 250 kilometres north of Nadym, and 30 kilometres from the coast of the Gulf of Ob.

Located within the Arctic Circle, the field is some distance from pipeline transportation infrastructure: shipments by sea from Cape Kammeny have been identified as the optimum solution for the transportation of crude, in these circumstances. The first opportunity for despatching oil by sea during the winter season was confirmed by Gazprom Neft as early as 2011, following a pilot voyage by an icebreaker from the port of Sabetta (in the north—east of the Yamal peninsula) to Cape Kammeny.

Oil from the field is currently transported to the coast through a 100-kilometre pressure-pipeline, with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year. Infrastructure established at the field and on the shores of the Gulf of Ob allowed the first shipment of oil by sea from Novy Port in 2014.

This new Yamal oil (“Novy Port” crude) is classified as “medium-gravity crude”. Its low sulphur content (of around 0.1 percent), moreover, is lower than that of Russian Urals-blend crude.

Commercial production at the field will commence in 2016.