Wolgodeminoil, a joint venture of Wintershall Dea and RITEK, which is a subsidiary of LUKOIL, successfully participated in the auction for the Severo-Belokamennoye licence area. The auction was held in Saratov by the Russian Federal Mineral Resources Agency (Rosnedra). The licence area covers 217.4 sq km in the Saratov Region in Southern Russia.
"Wolgodeminoil has been a great example of the German-Russian partnership for more than 25 years. I’m confident that the success in this auction will be beneficial for the future of Wolgodeminoil as it expands the resource base of the company in the region and provides a further opportunity for hydrocarbon production for years to come," says Thilo Wieland, Wintershall Dea’s Executive Board member responsible for Russia.
The licence is issued for exploration and production activities for the next 25 years. Within the first five years a seismic survey and exploration drilling are planned. Based on the results of the seismic survey, a drill-or-drop decision for exploration and production drilling will be taken. Carrying out exploration in this area is challenging since seismic works are constrained by weather conditions and must be performed by a floating seismic fleet. Future drilling will have to be done from onshore and will require long slanted or s-shaped wells. However, with the technically knowhow of both shareholders it is feasible to do so.
About Wintershall Dea
With the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, two successful companies with a long tradition have formed Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company: Wintershall Dea. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business.
Wintershall Dea stands for more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company employs around 4,000 people worldwide from over 60 nations. The company plans to increase its average daily production from about 590,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2018 to about 750,000 boe/d by 2023.
About LUKOIL
LUKOIL is one of the largest oil & gas vertical integrated companies in the world accounting for over 2% of crude production and circa 1% of proved hydrocarbon reserves globally. LUKOIL enjoys a full production cycle to control the entire value chain from upstream to downstream. LUKOIL employs over 110 thousand people who join their efforts and talents to secure the Company’s market leadership.