Urals to boost Russian oil production by yearend

Jan. 25, 2007
Urals Energy PCL, Nicosia, Cyprus, intends to increase its oil production in Russia to 19,000 b/d from 11,600 b/d by yearend under a $90 million capital spending plan.

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Jan. 25 -- Urals Energy PCL, Nicosia, Cyprus, intends to increase its oil production in Russia to 19,000 b/d from 11,600 b/d by yearend under a $90 million capital spending plan.

"We expect to drill 22 development wells and at least 1 high-impact exploration well," Urals said. "Our fraccing program has the potential to materially increase production across all the group's fields."

Urals will frac the first four wells of a planned eight-well program of its unit Petrosakh, with the results expected by the end of March. Petrosakh, a Russia-US joint venture, was licensed in 1997 to develop Okruzhnoye field on the eastern coast of Sakhalin Island for 20 years.

"Once we fracture stimulate the remaining suitable wells at Petrosakh, we will move the equipment to Komi and begin fracture stimulating our fields at CNPSEI, Dinyu and Nizhne Omrinskaya Neft, of which all have excellent stimulation potential," Urals said.

The fields, operated by Urals subsidiaries, are 750 km northeast of Moscow in oil-rich Timan Pechora basin 150 km northeast of Ukhta in the Komi Republic.

Separately, the company has started a deep sidetrack in well 29 to explore the Permian horizon at Peschanoozerskoye field on Kolguyev Island, off the Kanin Peninsula in the Barents Sea, where it hopes to boost oil production to 3,000 b/d from 1,334 b/d by 2008. Urals unit Arcticneft operates that field.

Potapovskoye
Results for its three-well Potapovskoye oil field in Urdmurtia have been very encouraging, Urals added. Potapovskoye produces an average of 33 b/d, but Urals hopes to raise this to 3,000 b/d by 2010 under an intensive development program.

The oil-bearing reservoirs include the Middle Carboniferous (V-2 and V-3a) and Bashkirian (A4 to A4-3). Potapovskoye, which spans 19 sq km, is an unfaulted four-way closure.

Dinyu exploration
Urals shot 300 km of 2D seismic data for Dinyu field in the Komi Republic to identify new drilling possibilities following the results of its DN-48 exploration well.

This tested an extension of Dinyu field to the southeast, but Urals found only small oil volumes. It suspects the oil migrated up-structure, as the well met a reef structure with over 60 m of permeable limestone reservoir.

Two drilling locations "include the new reef trend we encountered while drilling DN-48 and a newly identified eastern lobe that has excellent potential," Urals said.

Nadezhdinsky exploration
In April, Urals will spud an exploration well to test the Nadezhdinsky prospect in the Timan Pechora basin, which potentially holds 60 million bbl of recoverable oil. Urals said Nadezhdinsky is one of the most promising prospects in the portfolio of licenses that it holds, and it has an authority for expenditure dry hole cost of about $8 million for 3,200 m TD.

Urals expects to have a better idea of its plans for exploration drilling offshore license area Pogranichny by the end of the second quarter after it completes analysis of its 3D seismic data.

Urals said timing delays and poor equipment prevented it from achieving more than nine production wells in second-half 2006. "We have subsequently invested in new equipment, which is already producing positive results," Urals added.

The company expects to produce 50,000 b/d of oil from all of its Russian operations by 2011.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].