Strategic approach toward Sakhalin gas production centre

A Gazprom delegation is taking part in the Sakhalin Oil & Gas 2017 international conference.

Vsevolod Cherepanov, Member of the Management Committee, Head of Department at Gazprom, noted in his speech that the Company made systematic efforts to develop the Sakhalin gas production centre. The centre is strategic to the state-supported Eastern Gas Program. Gas reserves on the shelf of Sakhalin Island will serve to, first and foremost, ensure reliable gas supplies to and gasification of Russia’s Far East in the long term. In addition, the aforementioned efforts help create the conditions for boosting exports to the Asia-Pacific region.

In the years of working independently on Sakhalin’s shelf (since 2008), Gazprom finished prospecting in the Kirinskoye field and discovered three new fields: Yuzhno-Kirinskoye, Mynginskoye, and Yuzhno-Lunskoye. Thus, the Company’s offshore resource base in Sakhalin expanded considerably in ten years, with gas reserves multiplied by a factor of 12 – from 75.4 billion to 941 billion m3 – and gas condensate resources increased by a factor of 16 – from 8.6 million to 143.2 million t. The Gazprom Group continues to conduct geological exploration in the Kirinsky, Vostochno-Odoptinsky and Ayashsky blocks within the Sakhalin III project.

Gazprom started commercial production at the Kirinskoye field in 2014, supplying gas to consumers in the Primorye Territory and the north of the Sakhalin Region. It was the first field on the Russian continental shelf to be developed using subsea production technologies. It is planned to complete development drilling before the end of this year. With new producing wells in operation, the field will gradually reach its expected output of 5.5 billion m3 of gas per year.

As a result of exploration performed at the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field, over 95% of its gas reserves were reclassified as C1 reserves, reflecting the reliability of research. The field is still at the pre-development stage, with design works underway. Similar to the Kirinskoye field, the main design solutions for Yuzhno-Kirinskoye provide for subsea development across the entirety of the field.

Gazprom’s LNG projects are proceeding successfully in Sakhalin. Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee, pointed out in his speech that the LNG plant of the Sakhalin II project, in which Gazprom is a key stakeholder, had produced a record 10.9 million t of LNG in 2016, exceeding its annual design capacity of 9.6 million t. The design documentation for the plant’s third train is nearly ready. The train will have the capacity of up to 5.4 million t.

The Sakhalin II LNG plant has an advantage of being closer to the key markets of the Northeast Asia than the Company’s main competitors. Furthermore, the LNG production technology employed at the facility has proven its efficiency over the years.

In concluding his speech, Alexander Medvedev stressed that Gazprom’s ambitious projects in the east of Russia, including those on Sakhalin Island, laid the foundation to further develop the region, attract investment, and foster mutually beneficial cooperation with Asian countries.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/28092017/strategic-approach-toward-sakhalin-gas-production-centre/