Oil Production Starts at Yaro-Yakhinskoye

PAO NOVATEK (NVTK.ME) announced Thursday that commercial crude production has begun at the Yaro-Yakhinskoye field developed by Arcticgas, a joint venture between NOVATEK and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.ME).

The field’s crude oil production capacity is estimated at 1.2 million tons per annum.

NOVATEK’s Chairman of the Management Board Leonid Mikhelson said, “The launch of the crude oil program at Arctigas’ Yaro-Yakhinskoye field will make a significant contribution to the company's liquids production growth.”

To start crude oil production, oil and gas gathering systems, central oil treatment facility, as well as an external crude oil pipeline 57 km long with oil delivery point have been constructed. Twenty-two production wells have been currently drilled at the crude oil part of the field, and production drilling is underway.

“We managed to complete construction in a short time fully using the existing infrastructure.” Mikhelson said.

Arcticgas launched the Yaro-Yakhinskoye field in April 2015. Thirty-seven gas condensate wells have been drilled and the field’s infrastructure also includes a gas gathering network, a gas treatment unit, and a gas condensate de-ethanization unit.

Planned daily production level of the field is about 7.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas and 1.3 million tons of de-ethanized gas condensate per annum.