The Russian joint stock company Varyeganneftegaz has won the right to develop Verkh-Tarkskoye oil field in western Siberia's Novosibirsk province (OGJ, Mar. 29, p. 28).

Discovered in 1974, Verkh-Tarkskoye likely will be the first Novosibirsk province field to go on commercial production. It lies near the Tara River about 112 miles north of Barabinsk, which is on the trans-Siberian railroad and a parallel oil pipeline.

The Moscow newspaper Ekonomika i Zhizn (Economics and Life) reported Verkh-Tarkskoye's recoverable crude reserves are estimated at 24.5 million metric tons (179 million bbl). Peak production is likely to be 30,000-36,000 b/d.

Verkh-Tarkskoye is in an area with relatively good infrastructure, allowing reduced development costs and the opportunity to place the field on production without delay. A road north from Barabinsk to the town of Severnoye on the Tartas River is being extended about 30 miles to Verkh-Tarkskoye.

The field's pay is in upper Devonian and Jurassic formations at 8,056-8,838 ft. Test flows were as much as 1,172 b/d of oil, and the crude reportedly is of "exceptionally high quality with low sulfur content."

Lying south of western Siberia's Tyumen and Tomsk provinces, Novosibirsk province holds at least eight small oil fields in its northern sector near the border with Tomsk province.

Copyright 1993 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.

OIL FIELD MARKED FOR DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN SIBERIA

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