Gazprom Neft has become the first oil operator in Russia to drill a well with a horizontal borehole of 1,500 metres. The well, on the Yamal Peninsula, reaches a total 4,200 metres in length. Some 91 percent of the horizontal section, moreover, is located in the oil-saturated bed of the Novoportovskoye formation, characterised by high permeability strata which yield high flow rates without the application of fracking.

Final data on well productivity will be established following completion of testing in early 2015. Total development of this strata at the Novoportovskoye field envisages the drilling of up to 90 wells, with horizontal sections of up to 1,500 metres.

Gazprom Neft embarked on the fulfilment of a major development drilling programme at the Novoportovskoye field in June 2014. A three-year plan for development of the field from 2014 through 2016 envisages the construction of five cluster pads and drilling of 60 wells.

About the Novoportovskoye field

Recoverable C1 and C2 reserves at the Novoportovskoye field comprise more than 250 million tonnes of crude and condensate, and more than 320 billion cubic metres of gas (with Palaeozoic deposits taken into account).

Gazprom Neft Novy Port (operator on the project and a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft) last year completed a programme of drilling under pilot field development.

In October 2014 Gazprom Neft completed the first season of oil shipments from Novy Port by sea. The characteristics of the new Novy Port crude place it in the ‘light’ category, with low sulphur content: at around 0.1 percent, this exceeds the quality not just of Urals blend, but also Brent crude.

Comprehensive development at Novy Port will begin in 2016, following completion of construction of a terminal allowing oil to be despatched year-round.

About Gazprom Neft

Gazprom Neft is a vertically integrated oil company primarily engaged in oil & gas exploration and production (E&P), the sale and distribution of crude oil, and the production and sale of petroleum products.

The company’s proven SPE (PRMS) hydrocarbon reserves exceed 1.2 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), placing it among the world’s 20 largest oil companies.

The company operates in many of Russia’s prominent oil and gas regions including Khanty-Mansiysk (Yugra), Omsk, Orenburg, Tomsk, and Yamalo-Nenets. Gazprom Neft’s major refining facilities are located in Moscow, Omsk, and Yaroslavl, and it also has refineries in Serbia. Apart from its upstream activities in Russia, the company is involved in international E&P, including projects in Iraq and Venezuela..