Gazprom Neft increasing development pace at East Siberia assets, launching regional exploration - senior manager

MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax) - Gazprom Neft has been ramping up the pace of developing its current assets in East Siberia, and has been launching regional geological exploration there, Yuri Masalkin, Director for Geological Exploration and Resource Base Development at Gazprom Neft, said during an interview with Interfax.

"We are increasing the development pace of the East Siberian assets. Attention is currently focused on two large projects related to the study of the Chonskyoe group at the border of the Sakha Republic, or Yakutia, and the Irkutsk Region, as well as the Omorinskyoe site in the Krasnoyarsk Territory," Masalkin said.

"Chonskyoe is currently a big asset with prospects of sending raw materials to Asia-Pacific. Last year, we completed updating the geological model and approved the pilot program. This year, we will reactivate a number of oil wells and carry out hydraulic fracturing on previously drilled ones. We will begin the technological experiment for drilling a well with complex fishbone design that shows good efficiency in developing similar deposits," Masalkin said.

"The Omorinskyoe site is a very interesting object from a geological point of view, with the prospects of discovering significant hydrocarbon reserves. Currently, two wells are being drilled there, one prospecting and the other exploration. By the beginning of next year, we should be able to ascertain what could be obtained there," Masalkin added.

"We have not stopped there in East Siberia. We have launched large regional operations to select promising areas and to decide how to proceed. However, it is already clear that the subsoil of East Siberia is a rough nut to crack, a complex geological condition, with minimal infrastructure that one must approach carefully, attracting large investments," Masalkin said.