18 Dec 2019 14:44

Rosneft planning to launch pipeline from Severo-Danilovskoye to Verkhnechonskoye deposit by Oct 2020

IRKUTSK. Dec 18 (Interfax) - Rosneft is expecting to launch a pipeline from Severo-Danilovskoye, the first deposit of the Danilovskoye cluster, to the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate deposit by October 2020, Verkhnechonskneftegaz chief Alexander Bliznyuk told reporters.

The company has already begun construction of the 93-kilometer pipeline. Since the end of November, the company has laid 7.2 kilometers of the pipeline from the Verkhnechnoskoye side and will begin construction from the Severo-Danilovskoye side and will be able to reach a pace of construction of 500 meters per day. This pace will make it possible to complete the pipeline in only three weeks. However, Rosneft will need a further several months to test the pipeline, and such trials are usually conducted in the warmer months.

The crude oil produced at the Severo-Danilovskoye deposit will be delivered to oil treatment facilities at the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate deposit, and then to the ESPO system of trunk pipelines.

The pipeline is being laid underground. In order to rule out problems from the thawing of frozen soil, thermal insulation has been provided for with protection of the same materials for the pipeline's welded connections.

In order to control the impermeability of the pipeline system, leak control equipment is installed on the pipeline's line valve stations. This solution will make it possible to conduct monitoring of possible leaks of transported crude oil in online mode. In the process of the pipeline's operation, periodic in-line diagnostics with ultrasounds and electromagnetic equipment will be carried out in order to assess its technical condition.

The cost of the pipeline was earlier estimated at 3.3 billion rubles.

Furthermore, as part of the development of the Severo-Danilovskoye deposit, large-scale construction is underway of internal highways and cluster pads as well as preparatory engineering works for the construction of production facilities.

The equipping of the deposits includes the drilling of 95 wells at ten cluster pads, the set-up of a system for maintaining reservoir pressure, a generating center with capacity of 31 MW, an oil pipeline and other primary infrastructure facilities.

The Severo-Danilovskoye, Yuzhno-Danilovskoye, and Verkhneicherskoye deposits, as well as the Lisovsky field, Rosneft's new Danilovsky oil and gas production cluster in Eastern Siberia. The company placement of the license blocks, as well as the proximity of the Verkhnechonskoye deposit will make it possible to notable synergy as a result of joint use of ground infrastructure.

Verkhnechonskneftegaz is developing the Verkhechonskoye oil and gas condensate deposit, the largest in Eastern Siberia, and is also studying 15 license blocks in the Irkutsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where 7 more deposits have already been discovered.

Rosneft holds a 80% in the company, while 20% are held by China's Beijing Gas Group Co. Ltd.

In 2018, oil production at Verkhnechonskneftegaz totaled 8.2 million tonnes and gas production amounted to 1.4 bcm. In 2019, oil production is expected at the level of 7.7 million tonnes while gas production totals 1.4 bcm.