By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Feb. 11 -- Halliburton International Inc. and OAO Sibneft, Russia's sixth largest oil company, have signed an agreement described as worth "tens of millions of dollars" for Halliburton to provide a full range of oil field services to Sibneft's upstream division, which produces 400,000 b/d.
Sibneft plans to use Halliburton's technologies to improve reservoir management, increase production from existing wells, and work over wells which the company says still have production potential.
Under the agreement Halliburton will begin work at Sibneft's fields this spring. The company will initially provide directional drilling, sidetracking, logging, and cementing services. The two companies will establish a joint engineering team to plan projects.
Halliburton is a subcontractor for Sibneft's horizontal drilling project at Sugmut field and is providing its Sperry-Sun and Baroid product service line applications. This latest agreement provides for the establishment of a direct relationship between Sibneft and Halliburton.
Dave Lesar, chairman, president, and CEO of Halliburton said, "The current and future services provided under this framework agreement will give Halliburton a broader geographic presence and increased market share in Russia. Collaboration with Sibneft will also allow Halliburton to introduce and implement technologies which are new to the region."
Sibneft President and CEO Eugene Shvidler said the company wants to maximize outsourcing and apply technologies not used yet in Russia. The agreement will also contribute to the development of a market for advanced oil field services in western Siberia.
Halliburton and Sibneft officials declined to reveal what the deal could potentially be worth, but a spokesman said "an almost unlimited sum of money" is available for spending on introducing Western technology to Siberian oil fields.
Sibneft's deal with Halliburton will enable it to encourage competition among the European service companies with which it already was working.
Halliburton is expected to participate in exploration work in Chukotka, an autonomous far eastern region of Russia where Sibneft holds three onshore blocks. Exploratory drilling started last summer and a Sibneft spokesman said that resources are estimated at 275 million bbl.
