August 29, 2008

Verkhnechonskneftega lay oil pipeline in Siberia

Interfax reported that the Verkhnechonskneftegaz oil and natural gas company plans to start laying an oil pipeline next month from the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate field to the Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean trunk pipeline.

Mr Mugammir Galiullin GD of Verkhnechonskneftegaz said that laying the pipeline would start after the government issues its assessment of the project and would finish in the second half of 2008.

Verkhnechonskneftegaz is licensed to develop Verkhnechonskoye, a filed that has C1 oil reserves of 159.5 million tonnes, C2 oil reserves of 42 million tonnes, C1 condensate reserves of 400,000 tonnes, C2 condensate reserves of 2.9 million tonnes, C1 gas reserves of 56 billion cubic meters and C2 gas reserves of 105 billion cubic meters.

VChNG plans to produce 326,000 tonnes in 2008 which is 8.8 times as much as it is expected to produce in 2007. In 2009 it plans to produce 1.31 million tonnes of oil.

The Verkhnechonskoye ESPO pipeline, which will carry a maximum of 9 million tonnes of oil a year, will cost about RUB 7 billion to lay. It will be about 100 kilometers long, a 15 kilometer stretch passing through the Irkutsk region and the rest through Yakutia region.