Oil production in Bashkortostan could edge down this year
UFA. Feb 19 (Interfax) - Oil extraction in Bashkortostan this year is expected to run to 14.7 million tonnes, which would be a 1.3% decrease from the 14.9 million tonnes produced in the region last year, the head of the Bashkortostan subsurface resources usage agency Bashnedra, Rasikh Khamitov, said at a press conference on Tuesday.
OJSC Bashneft produced 14.6 million tonnes of oil, Khamitov said.
"Today, oil production [in the region] is at its peak. But thanks to new methods of oil-extraction it has been possible to stabilize [production] at a level of 14.5-15 million tonnes of oil," he said, adding that that is "completely sufficient for providing plants work."
Seven outfits extract oil and gas in the republic: Bashneft, LLC Bashmineral, LLC LUKOIL-Perm, LLC Zirgan, CJSC Vinka, LLC Mobel-Neft, and CJSC Ingeokholding.
After conducting geological survey work, Bashneft opened the oil deposit named after V.S. Afanasyev and eleven new oil strata - one each at the Bogatovskoye, Tashly-Kulskoye, Stapanovskoye, and Ilkinskoye deposits, fourt at the Serafimovskoye deposit, and three at the Barsukovskoye deposit, Khamitov said.
There are 202 oil and gas deposits located in Bashkortostan, 163 of them in development. Prospected and recoverable oil resources are good for around 26 years.
Copper sulphide ore production amounted to 4.4 million tonnes last year, copper output - 86,870 tonnes, zinc - 78,400 tonnes, gold - around 7.88 tonnes, placer gold - 87 kilograms, silver - 85,300 tonnes, iron ore - 31,000, rock salt - 3.5 million tonnes, limestone for the chemicals industry 3.8 million tonnes, gypsum - 290,000 tonnes, talc -10,900 tonnes, cement clays - 440,000 tonnes, and stone blocks (granite) - 50,000 cubic meters.
The pace of extracting hard recoverable resources will maintain in 2013 Khamitov said, adding that mining outfits in the republic have enough copper sulphide ore for twenty or more years, while ore and placer gold reserves are good for from three to fifteen years.
Production of hard recoverable resources in Bashkortostan is being done by some fifty organizations, the biggest of which are OJSC Uchalinsky GOK, LLC Bashkirskaya Med (Bashkortostan Copper), OJSC Sibaisky GOK (the former Bashkortostan Copper-Sulphur Combine ), CJSC Buribayevsky GOK, OJSC Bashkirskoye Shakhtoprokhodcheskoye Upravlenie, CJSC NPF Bashkirskaya Zolotodobyvayushchaya Company (Bashkortostan Gold Mining Company), OJSC Soda, and CJSC Syrevaya Kompaniya.
Expectations are that tenders will be held this year and exploration work will be done at five new areas - for gold, limestone for the chemicals and cement industries, zeolites, low iron content talcs, and underground water.
In 2012, 120 areas and sections containing underground water were measured and confirmed to the tune of 33.8 million rubles.
Financing for geological survey work in 2012 amounted to around 1.36 billion rubles, including 147 million rubles in federal budget funds and over 1.2 billion rubles from the coffers of outfits holding section licenses.
Recoverable C1 oil reserves reached 13.595 million tonnes, gas in solution - 0.018 billion cubic meters.