Gazprom Neft, PetroVietnam form JV to develop Dolginskoye field
SOCHI. Nov 25 (Interfax) - Gazprom Neft and PetroVietnam have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to develop the Dolginskoye oil field.
The heads of the companies, Alexander Dyukov and Nguyen Xuan Son, signed the document in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vietnamese Central Committee General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Also, Zarubezhneft and PetroVietnam signed a memorandum on further strategic cooperation.
The document covers expansion of the two companies' cooperation within their existing JVs: Vietsovpetro (Zarubezhneft with 49% and PetroVietnam with 51%) and Rusvietpetro (Zarubezhneft with 51% and PetroVietnam with 49%). They agreed to initiate comprehensive operations to create and patent their own innovative technologies for integrated project planning and development of oil and gas fields, for which they will form a joint working group.
The document also covers development of blocks 12/11 and 16-1/14 in Vietnam on a production-sharing basis.
The memorandum also sets out the areas on which the sides will concentrate their efforts in regard to Rusvietpetro operations, including: determining and implementing the optimal strategy for developing complex fields aimed at boosting oil yields, applying new technologies to develop fields, optimizing arrangements for construction and operation of fields in the Central Khorei Ver area with the goal of raising the project's economic return, developing and implementing measures to maximize associated gas utilization and minimizing environmental risks.
It was reported earlier that Gazprom Neft received a flow of gas at the Dolginskoye field in the central portion of the Pechora Sea. "At two promising structures where we expected a flow of liquid hydrocarbons we received a fairly serious flow of gas, which sort of brings into question the geological conception of the field," the head of geological exploration operations and resource base development Alexei Vashkevich said, adding that the gas flow reached 1.5 million cubic meters per day. The gas flow was received only in the upper horizons, while the lower horizons produced a flow of liquid hydrocarbons.
The data is currently being processed. Gazprom Neft plans to announce the results of the appraisal drilling in February 2015.
The Dolginskoye field is located in the central portion of the Pechora Sea in waters 35-55 meters deep. Recoverable reserves at the field are currently estimated at over 200 million tonnes of oil equivalent.