Gazprom advances Bovanenkovo development, complements Aptian, Albian production with Cenomanian gas

SALEKHARD. May 6 (Interfax) - Gazprom Dobycha Nadym LLC has drilled the majority of Cenomanian wells at the Bovanenkovo field as part of its third-phase development, which will operate in tandem with the already-producing deeper Aptian and Albian deposits, the company said in its corporate newspaper.

The expansion project includes 175 planned Cenomanian wells, with 69 already operational and 94 drilled. These wells average 600 meters in depth and feature significantly lower initial pressure than previously drilled wells, yet deliver comparable flow rates due to the formation's high rock permeability.

"Deeper formations at Bovanenkovo initially had higher pressure than overlying strata. Thus, we first develop the lower formation before connecting upper ones. This approach optimizes sustained peak production during this development phase," Pavel Yemelyanov, lead geologist of Gazprom's Yamal gas production division, was quoted in the publication as saying.

Simultaneously tapping all formations with a single well would cause cross-flow due to pressure differentials, while connecting wells from different formations to a shared gathering network would complicate gas dehydration, he said.

"Therefore, we strictly progress sequentially from bottom to top," he said.

A full suite of tests has been completed to determine operating parameters for 65 equipped wells, pending pipeline connection to the cluster gathering network.

The Bovanenkovo field currently operates 664 wells, with full well construction completion targeted for 2027.

The Bovanenkovo oil, gas and condensate field is the largest proven hydrocarbon deposit on the Yamal Peninsula.

As reported, the Bovanenkovo field pioneered Russia's first unified production infrastructure for simultaneous gas extraction from both Cenomanian (520-700 m depth) and Aptian-Albian (1200-2000 m) deposits. According to Gazprom , this approach delivers significant cost savings in field development while boosting operational efficiency.

Production launched in 2012 at Gas Production Facility No. 2, which has a capacity of 60 billion cubic meters per year, followed by GP-1 (30 bcm) in 2014 and GP-3 (30 bcm) in 2018.