Sanoat Energetika Guruhi (SEG) and Kontiki-Exploration discovered Yangi Uzbekistan ultra-viscous oil and bitumen field in the Zerafshan depression, Uzbekistan.
Bituminous oil reserves of the field are estimated at about 100 million tons, making it the largest bitumen field in Uzbekistan, the company said. Maximum annual bituminous oil production is projected at 1 million tons by 2025 and 1.6 million tons by 2030. Up to 1,500 wells are planned per year to meet this level of production, the company said.
The first exploration well was spudded May 15, 2021 with drilling operations on the regional border of Samarkand and Navoi. Appraisal and development wells were drilled to 400-750 m. While drilling, layers of gravel stones and sandstones of Albian, Cenomanian, and Turonian ages were uncovered. All were saturated with oil, extra-viscous oil, and bitumen, the company said.
For development, O’NEILL Industries (USA) will generate and inject steam with carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and surfactants. GenOil (Canada) and Energy and Engineering (Russia) will provide technology for processing bituminous oil into synthetic oil. Veraton I.T.C. (Russia) will develop hydrogen thermobarochemical impact technology, and Kazan Federal University (Russia) will perform petrophysical studies of cores and development of in situ combustion technology.
Field development over the next 12 years is estimated to cost $2.5 billion.
