One of the main strategic directions development of PJSC NK Rosneft is the development of hydrocarbon resources of the continental shelf. Today, when almost all the major large oil and gas fields on land have been discovered and developed, when technology and shale oil production are developing at a rapid pace, it is an indisputable fact that the future of world oil production lies on the continental shelf of the World Ocean. The Russian shelf has the largest area in the world - over 6 million km, and Rosneft is the largest holder of licenses for areas of the continental shelf Russian Federation.

As of January 1, 2019, Rosneft PJSC owns 55 licenses for areas in the Arctic, Far Eastern and southern seas of Russia. Hydrocarbon resources in these areas are estimated at 41 billion tons of oil equivalent. The Company is also implementing a project in the Black Sea off the coast of the Republic of Abkhazia, conducting exploration and production of hydrocarbons on the shelf of Vietnam and Egypt, and participating in projects on the shelf of Mozambique and Venezuela.

Rosneft's licensed areas are located in:

As of July 1, 2019, the Company is carrying out geological exploration of the subsoil at 45 license areas located on the shelf of the Russian Federation and inland seas of Russia. 10 licenses have been issued for exploration and production of oil and gas, including hydrocarbon production at 7 sites. License obligations are fulfilled in full.

Today, the main oil and gas production projects on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation in PJSC NK Rosneft are “ Sakhalin-1 », And field Odoptu-sea "Northern Dome"» and Lebedinskoye field.

Main achievements in the implementation of offshore projects:

• the total accumulated volume of oil shipped from the De-Kastri terminal from the Sakhalin-1 and Northern Chaivo projects in 2018 exceeded 100 million tons;
• drilling from the shore with the Yastreb drilling rig five horizontal directional wells with a trunk length of 10-11 thousand m at the northern end of the Chayvo field;
• drilling the longest wells in the world at the Chayvo field of the Sakhalin-1 project;
• the shortest possible time for mobilization and preparation for drilling of the “Tsentralno-Olginskaya” exploratory well, dictated by climatic restrictions in the Khatanga license area.

At the end of 2018, hydrocarbon production at offshore fields in the Company’s share amounted to almost 9 million tons of oil equivalent.

The strategic direction of development of Rosneft shelf projects is the development of the continental shelf of the Arctic seas. In terms of their total oil and gas potential, the sedimentary basins of the Russian Arctic shelf are comparable to the largest oil and gas regions in the world. According to experts, by 2050 the Arctic shelf will provide from 20 to 30 percent of all Russian oil production.

Rosneft gave a practical start to large-scale work on the development of the Arctic and Far Eastern shelf in August 2012, when the Company began field work in the Kara, Pechora and Okhotsk seas. For the period from 2012 to 2018. Rosneft has completed an unprecedented amount of seismic exploration work. In total, more than 170 thousand linear meters were carried out in the Arctic and Far Eastern license areas. km of 2D seismic surveys, including 144 thousand linear km in areas of the Arctic shelf, 26.8 thousand linear. km on the shelf of the Far East.

To clarify the geological structure of promising structures and plan exploratory drilling on selected structures in licensed areas of the Arctic and Far Eastern shelf, 29.5 thousand square meters were completed in 2012-2018. km of 3D seismic surveys. As a result of geological exploration work, more than 450 local promising structures were identified and detailed. For 2012-2018 On the shelf of the Arctic and Far East, the Company drilled 7 exploration wells and discovered 2 new fields.

In the southern seas for 2012-2018. The company completed 3.8 thousand linear km of 2D seismic surveys, 3.5 thousand km 2 of 3D seismic surveys, and drilled 3 wells.

On April 3, 2017, the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin launched the drilling of the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 well.

Based on the results of drilling the well, the oil and gas potential of the Laptev Sea water area was confirmed and the Central-Olginskoye field was discovered with recoverable reserves (in categories C1+C2) of more than 80 million tons of oil. Construction of well -1 was completed on May 1, 2018.

In March 2018, Rosneft completed drilling of the first ultra-deepwater well, Maria-1, in the West Chernomorskaya area license area on the Black Sea shelf. Well construction was completed on March 15, 2018.

Currently, an analysis of the drilling results is being carried out, which will make it possible to clarify the geological model of the Black Sea shelf and plan the continuation of prospecting and exploration work in the Company’s licensed areas.

The most important principle for the implementation of Rosneft offshore projects is unconditional adherence to the requirements of Russian environmental legislation and international agreements at all stages of work, in compliance with all environmental and industrial safety. During marine operations, constant monitoring of marine animals was carried out.

Identification and prevention of environmental risks are a mandatory part of any Rosneft exploration and production project. The Company has developed environmental safety standards, the fundamental focus of which is the use of technologies that reduce the negative impact on the environment.

Since 2012, the Company has been studying hydrometeorological, ice, engineering-geological and environmental conditions in licensed areas in the Arctic. In 2018, the Company, with the participation of specialists from Arctic science Center"(ANC, part of the corporate research and design complex of Rosneft) organized complex research expeditions, during which research was carried out in the Arctic seas (Kara, Laptev, Chukotka).

Particular attention in the expedition research programs was paid to a comprehensive study of the ice situation in the areas of planned work. A large amount of information on hydrometeorological and ice regimes in the area of ​​iceberg-producing glaciers was collected and summarized, observations of iceberg drift and studies of mechanical properties were carried out sea ​​ice. Additionally, during the expeditions, incidental shipboard meteorological observations, studies of polar bears, and monitoring of marine mammals and birds were carried out.

Based on the results of the 19th Arctic research expedition “Kara-Summer-2018”, recommendations were issued for conducting expeditionary work to test elements of the ice management system (IMS) in the waters of the southwestern part of the Kara Sea. Studies have shown that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles aircraft(UAV) both for aerial reconnaissance in the water area of ​​work and for placing response buoys on potentially dangerous ice formations, eliminates expensive services for attracting ice reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters. In addition, the use of UAVs eliminates risks for personnel when placing buoys on icebergs. The results of the research will ensure the planning of the forces and means of the emergency control system, the organization of their work and interaction during the elimination of threats from dangerous ice formations.

In October 2018, field studies of the strength properties of sea ice began. Groups of ice researchers have begun work at testing sites in the Laptev Sea, including those based at the Khastyr research base, which has been operating since 2016. Changes in the properties of ice over the entire period of its existence will be studied using a unified methodology for four testing sites located in the Laptev Seas, Okhotsk and Japanese. All types of first-year sea ice (thin, medium, thick, desalinated) will be simultaneously studied, which is unique for domestic ice research. The obtained dependencies will make it possible to determine the annual variability of ice strength properties when calculating loads on offshore oil and gas field structures.

The expedition also carried out preventive maintenance of hydrometeorological equipment previously installed in the Kara Sea - automatic meteorological and submerged autonomous buoy stations.

The complex of activities carried out during the expedition allowed Rosneft specialists to gain unique experience and competencies necessary to ensure the safety of geological exploration work on the shelf of the Arctic seas.

WITH summer season In 2016, year-round monitoring of natural and climatic conditions in the Khatanga Bay continues, the purpose of which is to collect primary data and develop a methodology for recalculating the strength properties of sea ice during different periods of its formation.

The Company pays special attention to preserving environment and ecological diversity of the Arctic region. In 2018, a two-year research work was completed to count the number and distribution of polar bears in the Rosneft area of ​​responsibility in the Kara Sea.

In addition, ANC specialists have completed work on developing a methodology for geocryological mapping of the Arctic shelf and constructing digital maps of geocryological zoning of the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. The initial stage included the systematization of factual materials and the development of scientific and methodological approaches to extrapolation of factual data to the mapped water area; development of the structure and completion of the list of available literary and stock sources. As a result of the research work carried out, a methodology for geocryological mapping on a scale of 1:2,500,000 was developed, a computer database of the distribution and occurrence conditions of subaqueous permafrost was created, a map of the geocryological zoning of the shelf of the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea was compiled on a scale of 1:2,500,000 and an explanatory note To her. The main directions for further research into the permafrost zone of the shelf of the Arctic seas of Russia were formulated.

Work is being carried out to study and monitor marine mammals of the Black Sea. In 2018, an analysis of stock data was carried out, including Company data, the first field stage (sea expedition), and information on cetacean strandings on the Krasnodar coast and the Crimean coast was summarized. In 2019, work on an aerial census of cetaceans and another sea expedition are planned.

Work continued on the formation of a database of natural and climatic parameters of the Arctic shelf and support for the Atlas of the Arctic Seas.

For successful implementation projects on the Arctic shelf Rosneft assessed the need for vessels to support and support drilling operations at the Company’s licensed areas. The main types of vessels and offshore structures required for the implementation of the Company's offshore projects have been identified. Functional requirements have been developed for each type. Thanks to the launch of projects in the Arctic, Rosneft is forming an anchor order for the domestic industry and is interested in localizing new technologies and modern production. The majority of orders for the construction of drilling platforms, pipes and other equipment are planned to be placed at Russian enterprises.

In the spring of 2014, Rosneft published a list of equipment and machinery that is required at various stages of development of offshore oil and gas fields. Thus, the company has already announced orders to Russian manufacturers for more than 20 types of ships and aircraft, and a request for Russian oilfield and drilling equipment for about 30 more items. In the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions alone, as well as in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, more than 100 enterprises will be involved in fulfilling the Company’s orders.

In order to develop the Arctic shelf, Rosneft is actively working to create a unique production base for marine equipment. One of the areas of work to solve this problem will be the creation, on the basis of JSC Far Eastern Center for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair, of an industrial and shipbuilding cluster in the Far East of Russia, the core of which will be a new shipyard - the Zvezda shipbuilding complex in the city of Bolshoi Kamen.

The Zvezda shipbuilding complex was created on the basis of the Far Eastern Zvezda plant by the Consortium of JSC Rosneftegaz, PJSC NK Rosneft and JSC Gazprombank. The project of the complex involves the construction of a heavy outfitting slipway, a dry dock and full-cycle production shops. The Zvezda shipbuilding complex will produce large-tonnage vessels, elements offshore platforms, ice class vessels, special vessels and other types of marine equipment.

In September 2017, the keel-laying ceremony of four multifunctional reinforced ice-class supply vessels took place at LLC SSK Zvezda. The vessels will be put into operation in 2019-2020. and will provide offshore drilling operations in the company’s Arctic license areas. The vessel operator will be Rosnefteflot LLC.

In October 2017, Rosnefteflot JSC, a subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, entered into contracts with SSK Zvezda LLC for the construction of ten Arctic shuttle tankers with a deadweight of 42 thousand tons each. Tankers with reinforced ice class ARC7 are designed to operate in ice up to 1.8 m thick at ambient temperatures down to minus 45 degrees.

On September 11, 2018, in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation, the first Aframax class tanker was laid down on the Zvezda slipway. Now sections of the first three ships are being manufactured and assembled at Zvezda. The first Aframax will be launched in 2020.

The implementation of the project will contribute to the development of the shipbuilding and industrial cluster and the localization of the production of ship equipment in the Russian Far East, ensuring the possibility of designing Arctic shuttle tankers on the territory of the Russian Federation, and forming an optimal portfolio of orders to load the Zvezda shipbuilding complex.

As part of the XXI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with the support of PJSC NK Rosneft, the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex signed a memorandum of understanding with the French engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) on the issue of design and construction cargo systems for LNG gas carriers (liquefied natural gas).

Gas carrier vessels may be in demand when implementing a number of projects for the development of offshore fields, as well as for transporting natural gas produced in the Russian Federation.

Western Arctic

general information

On the continental shelf of the Western Arctic seas, Rosneft PJSC owns licenses for 19 license areas:

• 7 areas in the Barents Sea - Fedynsky, Central Barentssky, Perseevsky, Albanovsky, Varneksky, Western Prinovozemelsky and Gusinozemelsky;
• 8 sections in the Pechora Sea - Russian, Yuzhno-Russian, Yuzhno-Prinovozemelsky, West Matveevsky, North Pomorsky-1, 2, Pomorsky and Medynsko-Varandeysky;
• 4 sections in the Kara Sea - East Prinovozemelskie-1, 2, 3 and North Kara.

in the seas of the Western Arctic And

The total recoverable oil and gas resources of the areas, according to the results of an audit performed by DeGolyer and McNaughton as of 01/01/2019, are estimated at 16 billion tons of oil equivalent.

Five fields have been discovered in the areas (Pobeda in the Kara Sea, Severo-Gulyaevskoye, Medynskoye-Sea, Varandey-Sea and Pomorskoye in the Pechora Sea). The total recoverable reserves of categories C1+C2 of the indicated fields as of 01/01/2019 are:

• oil + condensate - 247 million tons.
• gas - 501 billion m3

For the period from 2012 to 2018. The company completed 70 thousand linear kilometers of airborne gravity and magnetic survey work, more than 70 thousand linear kilometers. km of 2D seismic exploration, and about 24 thousand sq. km. 3D seismic surveys, carried out engineering and geological surveys at 15 sites for drilling prospecting and exploration wells, carried out 3 geological expeditions. In order to monitor the environmental condition, an annual survey of the mouths of previously drilled wells in the waters of the Pechora, Barents, and Kara seas is carried out.

In 2014, the Universitetskaya-1 well was drilled at the Vostochno-Prinovozemelsky-1 license area in the Kara Sea, which confirmed the presence of hydrocarbon deposits in the promising oil and gas region. Based on the results of drilling the well, the Pobeda oil and gas field was discovered with recoverable reserves (category C1+C2) of 396 billion cubic meters of free gas and 130 million tons of oil.

In licensed areas of the shelf of the Western Arctic seas, Rosneft fulfills license obligations ahead of schedule established deadlines and a significant excess of the volume of work under licenses.

Eastern Arctic

general information

On the continental shelf of the Eastern Arctic seas, Rosneft PJSC holds licenses for 9 areas:

• 5 areas in the Laptev Sea - Ust-Oleneksky, Ust-Lensky, Anisinsky-Novosibirsky, Khatanga and Pritaimyrsky;
• 1 section in the East Siberian Sea - East Siberian-1;
• 3 sections in the Chukchi Sea - North Wrangel-1,2 and South Chukotka.

Recoverable hydrocarbon resources in the shelf areas of the Eastern Arctic seas, according to the results of an audit performed by DeGolyer and McNaughton as of 01/01/2019, amount to more than 13.7 billion tons of oil equivalent, excluding the resources of the East Siberian-1 section, estimated by PJSC NK Rosneft in the amount of 4.6 billion toe.

During the period from 2012 to 2018, the Company completed 225 thousand linear kilometers of airborne gravity magnetic survey work, more than 73 thousand linear kilometers. km of 2D seismic survey work, 7 geological expeditions were carried out.

In December 2015, Rosneft received a license to develop the Khatanga site, located in the Khatanga Bay in the southwestern part of the Laptev Sea in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. On April 3, 2017, construction of the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 exploration well began and was completed on May 1, 2018.

Based on the results of drilling the well, the oil and gas potential of the Laptev Sea water area was confirmed and the Central-Olginskoye field was discovered with recoverable reserves (in categories C1+C2) of more than 80 million tons of oil.

Licensed areas of PJSC NK Rosneft
in the seas of the Eastern Arctic

Far East of Russia

general information

On the continental shelf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​Japan in the Far Eastern Federal District, Rosneft PJSC is a participant in the Sakhalin-1 project for the development of the Chayvo, Odoptu-Sea, Arkutun-Dagi fields under PSA terms and, together with subsidiaries and joint ventures, owns 17 more - licenses for areas, namely:

• 12 areas on the shelf of Sakhalin Island - Northern dome of the Odoptu-sea field, Northern tip of the Chayvo field, Lebedinskoye oil and gas condensate field, Kaigansko-Vasyukanskoye field - sea, Deryuginsky, Astrakhanovskoye sea - Nekrasovsky, North-Veninskoye gas condensate field, Vostochno-Pribrezhny, Amur-Limansky , East Kaiganskoye field, Central Tatarsky, Bogatinsky;
• 5 areas on the Magadan shelf - Magadan-1,2,3, Lisyansky, Kashevarovsky.

Recoverable hydrocarbon resources in the shelf areas of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, according to the results of an audit performed by DeGolyer and McNaughton as of 01/01/2019, amount to 1.7 billion toe, excluding the resources of the Amur-Limansky, Bogatinsky and Central Tatar areas , estimated by PJSC NK Rosneft in the amount of 651 million tons of oil equivalent.

8 fields have been discovered on the territory of the sites (Lebedinskoye, Odoptu Sea Northern Dome, Chayvo, Arkutun-Dagi, Odoptu Sea, Kaigansko-Vasyukanskoye Sea, North Veninskoye, East Kaiganskoye).

104 million tons of oil and condensate and 151.5 billion m3 of gas.

Map of licensed areas of PJSC NK Rosneft
in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk

The Company's geological exploration work on the shelf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk can be divided into two time periods: the first from 1996 to 2011 and the second from 2012 to 2017. During the first period, geological exploration work was carried out mainly on the shelf areas off Sakhalin Island under the Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-3 (Veninsky block), Sakhalin-4 and Sakhalin-5, Lebedinsky and Western projects. Kamchatka site in the north of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. During this time, 12.5 thousand linear lines were completed. km of 2D seismic exploration, 4.1 thousand sq. km of 3D seismic exploration, 700 linear. km of electrical exploration work, 9 exploration wells were drilled and 3 fields were discovered - the Kaigansko-Vasyukanskoye Sea in 2006, North-Veninskoye in 2009, Lebedinskoye in 2011.

During the second period from 2012 to 2017, Rosneft received new licenses for 5 areas of the continental shelf in the northern part of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk (Magadan-1,2,3, Kashevarovsky, Lisyansky) and 7 areas off Sakhalin Island (East Pribrezhny, Amur -Limansky, Deryuginsky, Bogatinsky, Lebedinsky, Kaigansko-Vasyukanskoye-Sea field, North-Veninskoye field). In 2016, a license was received for the Central Tatar area on the shelf of the Sea of ​​Japan.

During this period, Rosneft significantly increased the volume of seismic exploration work in licensed areas. Over 7 years, about 27 thousand linear lines were completed. km of 2D seismic exploration, more than 5.7 thousand square meters. km of 3D seismic exploration, more than 1.7 thousand linear km of electrical exploration work, engineering and geological surveys were carried out at three sites of promising areas to determine points for drilling exploratory wells, 5 exploratory wells were drilled. A significant amount of geological exploration work was completed in the licensed areas of the Magadan shelf ahead of the deadlines established by the obligations under the licenses.

Northern end of the Chaivo field

general information

In 2011, PJSC NK Rosneft received a license for geological study, exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the licensed area “Northern tip of the Chayvo field”, which is located within the shallow part of the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island. The initial recoverable reserves of oil and condensate at the field are over 14 million tons; gas - over 20 billion cubic meters. m.

In May 2014, Rosneft began implementing a large-scale project to develop the oil reserves of Northern Chaivo. Applied at the Northern Chaivo project innovative technology drilling horizontal wells from the shore with record deviations from the vertical using the unique Yastreb drilling rig.

At the end of 2014, construction of the temporary piping was completed and production from the first two wells began. In 2015, the third production well was drilled and put into operation, and drilling of the fourth production well began. In 2016, the fourth and fifth ones were put into operation at an accelerated schedule. oil wells with a trunk depth of 10496 m and 11163 m, respectively.

The extended reach wells at the northern end of the Chayvo field are unique in their design complexity. The wells use high-tech completion systems with inflow control devices to limit gas breakthroughs and ensure maximum cumulative production.

Actual oil and condensate production in 2018 amounted to 0.74 million tons, the total volume of gas supplied to consumers was 0.09 billion cubic meters. m. In February 2018, Rosneft PJSC produced six million tons of oil at the northern end of the Chayvo field since the start of the project.

The oil produced at the field belongs to the SOKOL brand and is of excellent quality. Oil has a very low sulfur content - 0.25%, density - 0.825-0.826 kg/m 3 (36.8 degrees API). All produced oil is shipped by oil tankers from the De-Kastri terminal in the Khabarovsk Territory to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Associated petroleum gas is sold on the domestic market to consumers in the Far East.

"Lebedinskoye field"

Oil production at the Lebedinskoye field (offshore of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk) has been carried out since 2014. Operator - LLC RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz. Production is carried out by four production wells. The quality of oil produced at the Lebedinskoye field is close to SOKOL oil.

Actual oil production in 2018 at the field amounted to 0.27 million tons, gas production - 0.09 billion cubic meters. m.

In 2018, the Company carried out work to adjust the boundaries of the Lebedinsky area, as a result of which the resource base of the field was increased. In 2018, the Lebedinskoye - Odoptu-Sea oil pipeline was put into operation.

"Odoptu-sea field (Northern dome)"

The Odoptu-Sea field (Northern Dome) is the first offshore production project in Russia. Oil production began in 1998. The oil and gas production operator at the field is RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz LLC.

Oil production is carried out by horizontal wells drilled from onshore sites. 40 production wells were drilled with a significant deviation from the vertical (up to 5-8 km). The current stock of wells as of 01/01/2019 is 28 oil production wells and 7 injection wells.

Actual oil production in 2018 amounted to 0.38 million tons, gas production - 0.14 billion cubic meters. m.

South Region

general information

PJSC NK Rosneft owns licenses for 7 areas in the Russian waters of the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas: the Temryuk-Akhtarsky area and the Novoe field in the Azov Sea, the North Caspian area and the Zapadno-Rakushechnoye field in the Caspian Sea, the Tuapse trough, the West Black Sea area and South Black Sea area on the Black Sea shelf. In addition, the Company has a license for the Gudauta area in the Abkhaz sector of the Black Sea.

The resource potential of the areas is estimated at 3.4 billion tons of oil and condensate and 61.5 billion cubic meters. m of gas, excluding the resources of the Western Black Sea area, the resources of which Rosneft estimates at more than 500 million tons of oil.

Recoverable reserves in the share of PJSC NK Rosneft are:

• oil + condensate - 7.2 million tons.
• gas - 1.6 billion m3

For 2012-2018 The company has completed more than 3.8 thousand linear km of 2D seismic exploration, about 8.3 thousand km 2 of 3D seismic exploration, engineering and geological surveys at 11 sites, drilled 3 wells, organized three field geological expeditions on the adjacent land.

Main investment projects Rosneft's projects on the shelf of the southern seas of Russia include projects for the development of licensed areas of the Black Sea. These areas have enormous resource potential, however, the search for and exploration of oil and gas accumulations in their subsoil areas require significant investments due to the large depths of the seabed (up to 2.2 km) and the need to use special equipment that is resistant to the impact sea ​​water with a high content of hydrogen sulfide. In March 2018, the first ultra-deepwater well, Maria-1, was drilled in the West Chernomorskaya area license area. Well construction was completed on March 15, 2018. Currently, an analysis of the drilling results is being carried out, which will make it possible to clarify the geological model of the Black Sea shelf and plan the continuation of prospecting and exploration work in the Company’s licensed areas.

Planned work is also underway to carry out geological exploration at the Company’s sites in the Caspian and Azov Seas - research, seismic exploration and preparation for prospecting and exploratory drilling.

The Novoye field project is at the development stage on the shelf of the Azov Sea.

"New deposit"

Based on the results of geological exploration work at the Temryuksko-Akhtarsky license area in the Sea of ​​Azov, the Novoye field was discovered in 2007 with recoverable reserves of 2.4 million tons of oil and 0.9 billion cubic meters. m of gas. In 2013, a license was received to develop the Novoye deposit.

Production at the field began in September 2016 from the reactivated exploration well Novaya-1. Cumulative oil production since the beginning of development as of 01/01/2019 is 71.9 thousand tons (the Company’s share is 36.8 thousand tons), gas production is 106.8 million cubic meters. m (in the Company's share - 54.6 million cubic meters).

Map of licensed areas of PJSC NK Rosneft
in the Southern region

Gazprom Neft Shelf- Russian oil company created for the development of offshore oil and gas fields. Holds a license to develop the Prirazlomnoye oil field, discovered in 1989 on the shelf of the Pechora Sea. Prirazlomnoye is currently the only field on the Russian Arctic shelf where oil production has already begun. Gazprom Neft Shelf is subsidiary PJSC Gazprom Neft.

Activity

Currently, Gazprom Neft Shelf is the only oil company producing oil on the Russian Arctic shelf (Prirazlomnoye field).

The first tanker with oil from the Prirazlomnoye field was loaded in April 2014. The command for shipment was given by Russian President Vladimir Putin. A new grade of Arctic oil produced on the Russian shelf was named ARCO (Arctic Oil) and entered the world market for the first time. In total, 300 thousand tons of oil were shipped from the Prirazlomnaya platform in 2014. At its peak, the maximum level of production can reach 5 million tons of oil per year.

In total, the project provides for the commissioning of 32 wells. The first production well at the field was launched on December 19, 2013. The wellheads of all wells are located inside the platform - thus its base simultaneously acts as a buffer between the well and open sea. In addition, special equipment installed at the wells is designed to prevent the possibility of an uncontrolled release of oil or gas - if necessary, the well will be hermetically shut off within 10 seconds.

OIFP "Prirazlomnaya"

The special hydrometeorological conditions of the Arctic required the use of fundamentally new, unique technologies for the development of the Prirazlomnoye field.

To implement the project, an offshore ice-resistant stationary platform (OIFP) “Prirazlomnaya” was created, which ensures the implementation of all technological operations: drilling wells, production, storage, loading oil onto tankers, generating thermal and electrical energy. When designing it, the experience of leading American, Canadian and Norwegian oil and gas companies, which have been producing in similar natural and climatic conditions for several decades, was taken into account. The platform is designed to ensure maximum safety of oil production in the Arctic region and is designed for maximum ice loads.

The plan considers various risk scenarios and calculates the forces and means for the formation of emergency units. Professional formations have also been organized to localize and eliminate possible spills, and interaction with government professional bodies has been organized. The company has purchased special equipment that will allow it to eliminate possible oil spills in Arctic conditions and will be able to collect oil in ice conditions.

In the area where the platform is located, training sessions and comprehensive exercises are constantly being conducted to ensure maximum coordination of the project team’s actions in the event of any emergency situations. Training is carried out both at sea in ice conditions and on land - to protect the coastline in the area of ​​the village. Varandey. Since the beginning of 2014, the company has conducted more than 100 training sessions on the topic of oil spill response, the largest of which was the exercise on search and rescue of people, as well as oil spill response “Arctic-2014”.

Story

Since May 2014, Gazprom Neft Shelf has been a subsidiary PJSC company"Gazprom Neft".

On June 1, 2009, Sevmorneftegaz LLC, 100% of whose shares belong to Gazprom, was renamed Gazprom Neft Shelf LLC. In October of the same year, Rosnedra reissued licenses for the Prirazlomnoye field from Sevmorneftegaz LLC to Gazprom Neft Shelf LLC.

On December 29, 2004, Gazprom became the sole owner of companies related to the development of

In order for hydrocarbon production on the shelf to exceed planned levels, oil and gas companies will have to ensure production cooperation between domestic suppliers of the necessary equipment.

The Russian shelf has the largest area in the world - more than 6 million square meters. km and contains over 110 billion tons of oil and gas resources in terms of fuel equivalent. The main hydrocarbon resources (about 70%) are concentrated in the depths of the Barents, Pechora, Kara and Okhotsk seas. At the same time, gas and condensate predominate in the depths of the Barents and Kara Seas, oil predominates in the Pechora Sea, and oil and gas predominate in the Okhotsk Sea.

According to Russia’s long-term energy strategy, by 2035 oil production on the continental shelf should increase to 50 million tons compared to about 17 million tons in 2015, including 30–35 million tons of Arctic oil.

Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Kirill MOLODTSOV, speaking at the Offshore Marintec Russia conference, said that the development of the shelf is carried out within the framework of 123 licenses for geological study, exploration and production of hydrocarbons.

– All companies – Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Rosneft, LUKOIL – are actively developing existing license areas... At the moment we expect that in 2016 Russia will increase its oil production volumes by more than 2.2 million tons and thus we will be ahead The growth rate of average production in the Russian Federation will add more than 11% of production,” he says.

If we discuss the Arctic shelf as a promising area for hydrocarbon production, the flagship project is the development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field, located in the Pechora Sea 60 km from the coast. Its recoverable reserves amount to more than 70 million tons. At the Prirazlomnoye field, a new type of oil is produced from an offshore ice-resistant stationary platform - ARCO, which first entered the world market in the spring of 2014.

– To date, more than 17 million barrels of oil have been shipped from Prirazlomnaya, 8 wells have been drilled (4 production, 3 injection and 1 absorption). Oil is shipped using ice-class tankers, says the head of the business development department and government regulation on the shelf of Gazprom Neft PJSC Sergey MATROSOV. – The advantages of ARCO oil compared to other types are high bitumen content and low coke residue. The oil is very well suited for deep processing at refineries in the North-Western part of Europe.

As Sergey Matrosov noted, in addition to the development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field, Gazprom Neft’s offshore portfolio includes three projects in the Pechora, Barents and East Siberian seas, which are at the geological exploration stage. In particular, in the Pechora Sea these are the Dolginskoye field at depths of 21–46 m and the North-Western license area at depths of up to 187 m.

“We are combining them into a single project because we expect broad opportunities for synergy between the two areas, both in the field of geological exploration and in the field of development, transportation of hydrocarbons and the use of common ground infrastructure,” explained a representative of Gazprom Neft.

In the Barents Sea, the company operates in the Kheisovsky license area with an area of ​​more than 83,000 square meters. km, and in the East Siberian Sea - in the North Wrangel area, which, according to Gazprom Neft, has enormous potential for hydrocarbon production.

– So, on the site area, which is 117,000 sq. km, the volume of geological resources is tentatively estimated at more than 3 billion tons of oil equivalent. The sea depth varies from 20 to 90 m, which makes it possible to develop the field at the current level of development of relevant technologies, said Sergei Matrosov, adding that Gazprom Neft considers the development of the Arctic shelf as one of its strategic areas of activity.

Geography of production

Gazprom adheres to the same priorities, which today has 38 licenses for the right to geological study, exploration and production of hydrocarbons on the Russian shelf.

– Gazprom considers the development of the shelf in full accordance with the national maritime doctrine, and the interests pursued by Russia fully correspond to the tasks and goals of the company... We carry out our main work in the Arctic, in the Kamchatka region, on Sakhalin and in the Ob-Taz Bay (Kara Sea in area of ​​the Yamal Peninsula. - Ed.), - said Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Valery GOLUBEV. Among the most interesting objects, he named, in particular, the Yuzhno-Lunskoye field in the Kirinsky promising area of ​​the Sakhalin-3 project in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, as well as the Kamennomysskoye-Sea field in the waters of the Ob Bay.

As Gazprom reported in September, during geological exploration work at the Kirinsky promising site of the Sakhalin-3 project in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, as a result of drilling a prospecting and appraisal well at the Yuzhno-Lunskaya structure, a significant influx of gas and condensate was obtained, which indicates the discovery of a new field. According to Valery Golubev, the exploration well at this field “gave very good results" In turn, Gazprom board member Vsevolod CHEREPANOV, quoted by RIA Novosti, told reporters in the fall that the gas reserves of the Yuzhno-Lunskoye field, which belongs to the gas condensate category, according to preliminary data, range from 40 billion cubic meters. m.

According to materials from the Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg company, the Kamennomysskoe-Sea field, named after the nearby village of Cape Kamenny, was discovered in 2000. Reserves amount to 535 billion cubic meters. m of natural gas. The installation of an ice-resistant platform and the installation of gas pipelines are planned to be carried out in 2018–2019; industrial production will begin approximately in 6–7 years. In the future, several fields in the vicinity of Yamburg (Kamennomysskoe-Sea, Severo-Kamennomysskoe, Semakovskoe, Tota-Yakhinskoe, Antipayutinskoe, Chugoryakhinskoe, Obskoe, Parusovoye, Severo-Parusovoye) will be developed by an interconnected technological complex with gas transit through existing capacities at the Yamburgskoye field.

In addition to companies with state participation, LUKOIL is quite active on the Russian shelf, developing, in particular, fields in the Caspian, Baltic and Azov seas.

– The first large-scale geological exploration work began back in 1995 on the shelf of the Caspian Sea, and subsequently there was work in the Baltic, in the Sea of ​​Azov... In the Caspian region in 1995–2015, 9 fields were discovered (taking into account LUKOIL’s shares in joint ventures) with reserves of 1, 1 billion tons of standard fuel – approximately 50/50 for oil and gas. Promising structures with resources of about 500 million tons have also been prepared. Accumulated production already amounts to 6.5 million tons, investments in geological exploration alone amount to 46 billion rubles,” said Ilya MANDRIK, vice president of PJSC LUKOIL, at a conference in St. Petersburg.

One of the most successful projects he considers the development of the Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea to require an investment volume of about 87 billion rubles. As Ilya Mandrik recalled, in September the operation of the first two wells began at this field with a projected oil production of 6 million tons.

– In September, the first wells were put into trial operation, work is underway to determine additional features, optimal well conditions, running-in technological equipment... In fact, the first stage has already been implemented, including onshore structures... In total, more than 3,000 people and over 100 enterprises were involved in the development of this field, he said, adding that they worked as the main contractors Russian companies.

Russian equipment is a priority

Not only LUKOIL, but also other companies involved in the production of hydrocarbons consider it necessary to attract domestic producers to the implementation of offshore projects. According to Valery Golubev, without industrial cooperation Russian enterprises cannot be avoided, for example, during the construction of an ice-resistant platform for the Kamennomysskoye-Sea field.

“Here we propose to use production cooperation between factories existing in Russia today,” he says. According to him, the construction of underwater complexes for the production of hydrocarbons is one of the priority areas, where it is necessary to intensify work in the field of import substitution.

As Valery Golubev said, Gazprom has already formed a specialized structure that is engaged in projects in the field of import substitution in order to ensure the participation of Russian industrial enterprises in the manufacture of equipment necessary for underwater production on the shelf.

– A special enterprise was created, which was named “Gazprom 335”. It should be the main consolidator of production technological requirements, considering the capabilities of Russian production capacity... The immediate tasks include creating a list of critical equipment, all the necessary technological maps, measures to minimize technological risks, a deep localization scenario and the like,” he said.

In the medium term, noted Valery Golubev, the new structure will become a center of competence to support the development and production of equipment, and will then perform service functions.

– Thus, we laid the foundation for the creation industrial production underwater production complexes in Russia. Existing in the country today industrial base and a certain will (of the state), as well as the potential of Gazprom, makes it possible to organize this work,” the deputy chairman of the board of the gas concern is confident.

Federal departments, for their part, strongly support the development of import substitution in the field of hydrocarbon production on the shelf.

“These are applied, everyday problems, and the federal authorities, together with companies, will continue to actively solve them,” promises Kirill Molodtsov. According to him, today more than 1.3 billion rubles have been allocated for research work, which is related, in particular, to improving geological exploration technologies, as well as optimizing systems for ensuring sustainable field development, including in the Arctic zone. According to Kirill Molodtsov, the federal authorities are also considering more than 20 research projects aimed at solving the issues of developing production technologies, infrastructure, construction of production platforms, construction of ships, which, in our understanding, in 2017 may qualify for funding in an amount of more than 3 billion rubles.

The past 2017 was not an easy year for the Russian oil industry. Production growth has generally stopped due to falling world prices, sanctions and cuts under the OPEC+ deal. However, this trend did not affect offshore projects, where production volumes at the end of last year increased by more than 1.5 times. In addition, as a result of exploration, the largest reserves in Russia last year were discovered on the shelf. Experts attribute this to the emergence of Russian technologies for the implementation of shelf projects and predict further growth in production in Russian waters.

Accelerating growth

At the end of 2017, oil production on the Russian shelf increased much more than previously planned. Back in September last year, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Kirill Molodtsov told reporters that the ministry expects an increase in oil production on the Russian shelf in 2017 compared to 2016 by 16.6%, to 26 million tons, gas production - by 3.3% , up to 34 billion m3. However, already in mid-December, the Ministry of Energy adjusted its forecasts and announced that oil production on the Russian shelf at the end of 2017 would increase by 61%, to 36 million tons.

The Ministry of Energy notes that the situation was positively influenced by the use of new technologies in the field of oil and gas production, including in offshore projects. “Out of the total number of technologies, and there are approximately 600 of them, more than 300 are produced in Russia. More than 200 have Russian developments and analogues, that is, they are practically at the project development stage,” said Kirill Molodtsov, speaking at the Tyumen Oil and Gas Conference in the fall. “There are technologies that we are very excited about, and we will develop them further. These are absolutely autonomous production systems, the completion of offshore fields, drilling, the possibility of creating and developing projects in the Arctic,” noted the Deputy Minister. Kirill Molodtsov also pointed out that the sanctions imposed against Russia in 2014 did not have such a strong impact negative influence for offshore production, as expected.

“Some events that occurred around 2014 seemed to have a negative impact, but I would like to emphasize that all the companies that work on the shelf, both on projects that have been started and on projects that are now being considered, have not actually changed their plans ", explained Kirill Molodtsov. He also added that companies continue to allocate funds for development marine projects. Thus, the total volume of investments last year in the Arctic shelf alone is estimated at 150 billion rubles.

New discoveries

It is worth noting that our subsoil users have not only already developed ongoing projects, but also carried out geological exploration, which resulted in major discoveries. One of the largest discoveries belongs to Rosneft, which discovered large oil reserves as a result of drilling the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 well in the Khatanga license area in the Khatanga Bay of the Laptev Sea.

Last June, the company announced that, as a result of geological exploration on the shelf in the Eastern Arctic, it had drilled the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 well, core sampling from which showed high oil saturation. According to seismic survey data, this area may contain colossal oil reserves, which are estimated at 9.5 billion tons. Already in October, based on the results of drilling just one well, the State Reserves Commission (GKZ) put on the balance sheet of the state an oil field with recoverable reserves of 80 .4 million tons.

As stated in the Rosneft message, as a result of drilling the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 exploratory well from the shore of the Khara-Tumus Peninsula on the shelf of the Khatanga Bay of the Laptev Sea (Eastern Arctic), it was discovered that the resulting core was saturated with oil with a predominance of light oily fractions. Based on primary research, it can be concluded that a new oil field has been discovered, the volume of resource potential of which increases as drilling continues.

The field discovered by Rosneft in the Eastern Arctic may be the largest and unique on the shelf, the head of the Ministry said natural resources and ecology of Russia Sergei Donskoy. Another major discovery on the shelf belongs to Gazprom Neft, which discovered oil reserves in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk 55 km from the coastline of the northeastern part of the shelf of Sakhalin Island.

The Ayashskoye field, later renamed Neptune, is part of the Sakhalin-3 project. Gazprom Neft expects that out of geological oil reserves of 250 million tons, the volume of recoverable reserves will be 70-80 million tons. As stated in the Gazprom Neft corporate magazine, the company plans to prepare a detailed assessment of reserves by mid-2018. Based on these data, a decision will be made on additional exploration of Neptune in 2019. The company plans to begin oil production at the field in 2025-2026.

Sakhalin break

Sakhalin fracture The bulk of oil on the Russian shelf is produced in the Sakhalin region. Last year, according to the regional administration, oil production in the region, including gas condensate, amounted to 17.7 million tons, which is 1.9% less than in 2016. Meanwhile, gas production increased by 3.2%, to 30.5 billion m3.

Almost the entire volume of hydrocarbons on Sakhalin is produced within the framework of two shelf projects - Sakhalin-1 (Rosneft owns 20%) and Sakhalin-2 (controlling stake in Gazprom),

There have been disagreements for many years between the shareholders of these two projects regarding the use of gas from the Sakhalin-1 fields. The operator of this project in Russia, Exxon Neftegas, has been trying for several years to reach an agreement with Gazprom on the supply of gas produced under the project to the markets of the Asia-Pacific region. However, Gazprom has always insisted on supplying raw materials to the domestic market, which did not suit the shareholders of the Sakhalin-1 project due to the low price on the domestic market. As a result, gas from the project was pumped back into the formations, and during this time Exxon Neftegas, according to experts, received lost profits of $5 billion.

In turn, the expansion of the LNG plant within the Sakhalin-2 project through the construction of the third stage was postponed year after year due to the lack of a resource base.

At the end of last year, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that the differences had been resolved. The parties agreed that gas from the Sakhalin-1 project will be supplied to the third stage of the Sakhalin-2 LNG project, while Gazprom will supply gas to the Eastern Petrochemical Company (VNHK) of Rosneft. At the beginning of February of this year, Glavgosexpertiza of Russia announced the issuance of a positive conclusion on the design documentation for the reconstruction of the LNG plant as part of the Sakhalin-2 project. Reconstruction is necessary for the construction of the third technological line of the plant. A positive conclusion was issued for the construction of a second berth complex for LNG shipment with a capacity of 10,000 m3/hour.

Expansion of the technological part is necessary to optimize gas loading. Work will also be carried out on the construction of coastal fortification, an approach overpass, an LNG loading platform and other infrastructure facilities.

We can only hope that the price issue, which for many years has been a stumbling block in disagreements between the shareholders of the two largest offshore projects, will be resolved quickly this time and this matter will finally be put to rest.

Good luck for LUKOIL

In 2008, the right to develop the Russian shelf was assigned by law to state-owned companies with five years of experience in offshore fields. Only Gazprom, Rosneft and Gazprom Neft meet this criterion.

LUKOIL is the only private company, which operates on the Russian shelf. The fact is that the company received the right to develop offshore fields in the Caspian Sea even before the legislation on working conditions on the shelf was tightened. In 2000, the company discovered a large oil and gas province on the Caspian Sea shelf. Now 6 large deposits and 10 promising structures have been discovered there.

At this stage, two fields have been put into operation - named after. Yu. Korchagin and them. V. Filanovsky. The latter is one of the largest offshore oil fields in Russia with recoverable oil reserves of 129 million tons and gas reserves of 30 billion m3.

Industrial production at the field named after. Filanovsky began in October 2016 as a result of the commissioning of the first stage of construction, including an ice-resistant stationary platform (ISP). In January 2018, the company announced that it had completed construction and put into operation the first well as part of the second stage of development of the field named after. Filanovsky. As a result of the well commissioning, daily oil production at the field increased to 16.8 thousand tons.

LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov told reporters that at the field named after. Filanovsky plans to produce 5.6-5.8 million tons of oil this year, and already in 2019 the company intends to reach the projected oil production of 6 million tons and maintain it for 5 years. He also said that this year the company plans to complete the construction of a block conductor for the second stage of the field named after. Korchagin and complete the construction of the third stage of the field named after. Filanovsky.

In addition, Vagit Alekperov said that a tender has already been announced for the development of the Rakushechnoye field, which will be the company’s next project in the North Caspian Sea. This deposit is located in close proximity to the deposit named after. Filanovsky. Thanks to this, the company plans to use already built infrastructure, which will reduce the time and costs of field development.

The head of LUKOIL is one of the consistent supporters of allowing private companies to develop offshore projects, including on the Russian continental shelf. In early February, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vagit Alekperov called the Caspian project a priority and strategically important for the company. He also recalled to the Russian President that LUKOIL is developing the East Taimyr subsoil area, located near the mouth of Khatanga, and once again noted the company’s interest in shelf projects.

The only one on the Arctic shelf

Prirazlomnoye is the first and so far the only operating mining project on the Russian Arctic shelf. Production of ARCO oil, which is carried out by Gazprom Neft from the Prirazlomnaya platform of the same name, grew at an accelerated pace during 2017 and reached 2.6 million tons. Gazprom Neft managed to maintain the growth rate, despite the technical re-equipment of the Prirazlomnoye field, which the company held last fall.

As the press service of Gazprom Neft said, in 2017, a significant event for the project was the increase in the well stock by 1 injection and 4 production wells. Currently, 13 wells have been put into operation at the Prirazlomnoye field: 8 production wells, 4 injection wells and 1 absorption well. In 2018, it is planned to drill several more production and injection wells.

In total, within the framework of the Prirazlomnoye project, it is planned to construct 32 wells, which will ensure peak annual production of about 5 million tons of oil after 2020. This year, Gazprom Neft expects to produce more than 3 million tons from the field, said the deputy general director on the development of Gazprom Neft offshore projects Andrey Patrushev during a speech at the 13th exhibition and conference

RAO/CIS Offshore. “The planned increase in production volumes also includes the introduction of new well construction technologies. One of the key innovations in the Prirazlomnoye project was the commissioning of a multilateral well, the construction technology of which makes it possible to reduce the volume of production work and drilling costs. Thus, not only the production efficiency, but also the financial efficiency of the project increases,” Andrey Patrushev is quoted as saying on the Gazprom Neft Shelf company website.

Let us remind you that industrial development deposits began in December 2013. A new grade of oil, ARCO, first entered the world market in April 2014.

In total, more than 10 million barrels of oil have already been shipped to European consumers since the start of field development. Cumulative production as of the end of 2017 amounted to about 6 million tons. As the Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dyukov, said, already in 2019 the company plans to produce 4.5 million tons of oil per year at Prirazlomnoye.

It is worth noting that Gazprom Neft expects to increase oil reserves in this region through geological exploration in areas adjacent to Prirazlomnoye. As Alexander Novak previously reported, the prospect of production at the Prirazlomnoye field is 6.5 million tons per year.

According to experts, this is a very real task. As Gazprom Neft reported on February 20, in 2017, for the first time, an assessment of the promising resources of the Arctic shelf in the company’s licensed areas was carried out. According to DeGolyer and MacNaughton, the volumes of promising resources of the Arctic shelf amounted to: oil - 1.6 billion tons, gas - 3 trillion m3.

Multidirectional vector

Experts and officials talk a lot and willingly about the prospects for developing shelf projects, especially Arctic ones. Opinions are unanimous only in that the shelf is the country's strategic potential. Otherwise, this topic causes heated discussions among market participants. Among the most discussed issues are: whether private companies should be allowed to participate in development, whether the moratorium on issuing new licenses should be lifted, what benefits to provide, how to circumvent sanctions, where to get equipment and what technologies to use.

At the same time, many experts agree that now is really not the best period in the global and domestic economy to intensify activity on the shelf. Thus, the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak notes that the activity of interest in the shelves, observed before 2014, is now much lower, and connects this with a decrease in world prices for hydrocarbons. Commenting in an interview with RT on plans to develop the Arctic shelf, the minister recalled that today we have about 19 open fields there. “This suggests that in the future, as conditions improve, we are certainly considering, as part of our energy development strategy, more active research, drilling, and commissioning of fields,” the minister said and once again emphasized that the Arctic is the future of our oil production and gas production.

According to Academician Alexey Kontorovich, active geological exploration of the Russian Arctic waters will take place in 2030-2040. As he explained in an interview with Reuters, Russia will be able to maintain current oil production with existing proven reserves until the middle of the 21st century.

Next, we need new discoveries on the Arctic shelf, which has rich hydrocarbon reserves. Thus, according to the expert, main task What remains is the development of appropriate technologies by this time.

Deputy head of Rosnedra Orest Kasparov believes that for economically viable development of the Arctic shelf, the cost of oil should exceed $80 per barrel. In his opinion, precisely because low prices for oil, and not because of sanctions, Russian companies are postponing the development of some shelf projects.

The Norwegians announced the discovery of large oil and gas reserves, which ended up at the bottom of the Barents section transferred to Russia Aseas. Norwegians are rubbing their hands with joy while the Russian media draw analogies with under previously occupied Russian territories, on which serious resources were later discovered. But in reality, not everything is so simple...

After the 2010 agreement, something very good happened with Norway. The country's level of dependence of welfare on oil and gas export volumes is very similar to Russia. However, the long-exploited fields of the North Sea had already been depleted, and Norway was slowly and surely sliding into a dull and poor future.

“The results presented today prove that the south-east Barents Sea is the most interesting new area on the Norwegian continental shelf,” Geir Seljeseth, communications manager at the Norwegian Petroleum Association, happily told BarentsObserver.

These reserves help Norway a lot. Oil production in the country has been declining for a number of years. Peak oil production in Norway was passed in 2000, when it amounted to 3.12 million barrels per day. By 2007, daily oil production on the Norwegian continental shelf had dropped to its lowest level since 1994, 2.6 million barrels. At the end of 2012, it was less than half of this level - 1.53 million barrels per day. The situation with gas is a little better. Last year, production rose 12 percent to 1.94 million barrels of oil equivalent. But now the Norwegians have huge plans.

After two years of seismic sounding of the resulting territory, the Norwegians found that recoverable hydrocarbon reserves amounted to about 1.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent - a good increase, considering that oil reserves in Norway are estimated at 8.5 billion barrels. The third largest oil exporting country in the world after Russia and Saudi Arabia has only 0.7 percent of world reserves (18th place in the world). Gas reserves in the country are estimated at 2.5 billion cubic meters. m (1.2 percent of world reserves, 13th place).

Background

The main agreements regarding the status of these areas of the sea one way or another include consideration of the issue around the Spitsbergen archipelago. According to the agreement of 1872, the right to Spitsbergen was assigned simultaneously to Russia and Sweden, which at that time included Norway. But during Civil War in Russia, in February 1920, eight states (USA, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Sweden), without taking into account the opinion of Russia, which these countries had successfully plundered, transferred sovereignty over Spitsbergen to Norway.

The gift was gorgeous... but with a catch. Norway received the right only to land. The sea around Spitsbergen and the continental shelf remained a free zone.

Moreover, according to the agreement, pledges were made favorable conditions for foreign TNCs in case something is ever developed in this area: the export duty on Svalbard should not exceed one percent of the maximum value of exported minerals within 100 thousand tons. And if the export volume is even greater, then a reduction factor should work. In general, Norway itself received nothing from such a gift.

In the 30s, the USSR joined the agreement of 1920 with the right to conduct economic activity on the island. Although I considered the act of 20 to be discriminatory for myself. In 1926, Moscow determined the boundaries of maritime possessions in this area using the principle of sector division. The final points were the North Pole and the extreme point of the land border, between which a straight line was drawn dividing the water area. At the same time, the Norwegians used a median line distinction between the island possessions of the two countries. The result was a disputed zone with an area of ​​about 155 thousand square kilometers. A piece larger than all of Norway's maritime holdings in the North Sea.

Despite the fact that the 1920 Agreement does not allow Norway to consider the waters around the archipelago as its own territorial, Oslo demonstrates by all means and through local national acts that it is its own territory. Thus, Norway practically denounces the 1920 treaty. Some provisions signed by Russia in 2010 are also quite ambiguous. For example, in Article 2, the Russian side renounces “any sovereign rights or jurisdiction” of the Russian Federation on the other side of the demarcation line, where Spitsbergen is located.

The legal issue is that, wanting more and refusing the 1920 agreement, Norway also renounces sovereignty over Spitsbergen, since this is the only agreement under which Oslo can count on its full jurisdiction over the island. Thus, the situation rolls back to the agreement of 1872, when the status of Spitsbergen was determined by only two states - Russia and Sweden-Norway. Although publicly the arguments this kind Moscow has not yet stated that the implementation of the Strategy for the Russian presence in the Spitsbergen archipelago until 2020 will be indicative.

Shared the shelf

Contrary to the vivid and therefore common association with the famous hero of one of the favorite folk comedies, the deal to transfer the water territory to the Norwegians does not resemble the transfer of the “Kemskaya volost”, by the way, to the same Swedes... Both countries initially shared the shelf and underground wealth. And Moscow knew that there were hydrocarbon reserves in this area. Soviet seismic exploration regularly reported on available reserves, although there was no exact data. However, the territory was not demarcated and neither side could calmly develop production in this sector.

It is no coincidence that most of the agreement is devoted to hydrocarbons, and it is especially detailed how the parties will jointly use the fields that are located on both sides of the demarcation line. Such close attention suggests that the conditional demarcation lines were drawn taking into account the conscious division of the existing fields into the Russian and Norwegian sectors, in order to then organize joint production, which is the subject of most of the agreement.

The agreement between the parties directly states the principle that the field crossed by the demarcation line can only be exploited jointly and as a single whole. This approach will make it possible to resolve possible disagreements on the distribution of hydrocarbon resources in advance and effectively. The exploitation of any hydrocarbon deposit that extends onto the continental shelf of the other party can only be started in accordance with the provisions of the Association Agreement, the treaty states.

What kind of unification agreement this is, one can only guess. Actually, voluminous appendix number two to the signed agreement is precisely the very part for which everything was started. Russia began the Arctic race in 2007, when a flag was planted on the seabed below the North Pole. This has prompted a number of countries with access to the Arctic to show activity and interest in the Arctic lands, where inaccessible and seemingly gigantic hydrocarbon deposits are hidden.

Among them was Norway, with which Russia had a territorial dispute that had been going on for a long time. In 2010, Russia ceded part of the disputed territory in the Barents Sea to Norway, receiving in return the absence of obstacles from the Norwegians in carrying out the Nord Stream and removing the territorial dispute from the agenda.

In 2012, the largest oil producing companies of both countries, with a predominant share of state participation, signed agreements on working together. In May 2012, Rosneft and the companies agreed to work together on the shelf of the Barents and Okhotsk seas, both on Russian territory and on the Norwegian shelf. The level of Russian participation in production on the territory transferred to the Norwegians will be the most reliable indicator of the effectiveness of this agreement for the Russian side. In this case, the agreement between the Russian Federation and Norway will resemble an agreement between neighbors to divide the existing reserves between two.

What about the main characters of the 1920 agreement? They are unlikely to be happy with the way Oslo and Moscow pushed them aside with their own bilateral agreement. It turns out that they are already in business and seem to agree to the proposed terms and the quiet cancellation of the 1920 agreement.

Rosneft's partners in offshore work are Exxon Mobil (USA), ENI (Italy) and the same Norwegian Statoil, which also works with Exxon Mobil. In return, foreign partners pay for geological exploration and provide Rosneft with the opportunity to buy a stake in their foreign projects. As for the British, in the fall of 2012, Rosneft and BP agreed to buy out the latter’s share in TNK-BP. In addition, the British company will receive two seats on the board of directors of Rosneft out of nine.

Oslo about oil, Moscow about Spitsbergen

Some synchronicity in the actions of the governments of the two countries suggests that the parties are still moving within the framework of a single plan. On February 27, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate presented optimistic data regarding oil and gas reserves in new territories, mentioning, by the way, that in early March, Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich chaired a meeting of the government commission to ensure the Russian presence in the Spitsbergen archipelago. Russia plans to create a multifunctional scientific center on the island and extract minerals, as planned by the Strategy for the Russian presence in the Spitsbergen archipelago until 2020.

The Ministry of Transport, Rosmorrechflot, Rostourism and the Arktikugol State Trust were instructed to prepare a development report by April 2013 transport system and ensuring safe navigation in the Spitsbergen area.