Gazprom Neft Orenburg acquires new acreage

Gazprom Neft Orenburg acquires new acreage

MOSCOW -- Gazprom Neft Orenburg has been announced as the winner in a recent auction for geological prospecting and E&P rights to the Yagodny license area in the Orenburg Oblast, a federal subject of Russia.

Covering 500 sq km in total, the license area includes Zemlyanskoye field, originally discovered in 1978. Drilling of exploration and prospecting wells, as well as 2D and 3D seismic works, had previously been undertaken within the license area.

Further investigations are to be undertaken in the next few years in order to confirm reserves at the Yagodny block including, in particular, 3D seismic investigations covering an area of 400 sq km, after which drilling will commence.

The block is located within the Novosergiyevsky and Perevolotsky districts of the Orenburg Oblast, both of which benefit from good transport and oil and gas infrastructure. Other Gazprom Neft field assets are also located within direct proximity, including the Baleikinskoe, Filatovskoe, Kapitonovskoe and Tsarichanskoe fields, as well as the Uransky block and the Kuvaisky license area, acquired by the company one month ago -- on which basis, usage of pre-existing shared infrastructure is expected to deliver additional benefits in terms of synergies.

Gazprom Neft Orenburg General Director Alexei Ovechkin commented, “The almost simultaneous acquisition of two new license areas within the Orenburg Oblast gives us the opportunity to further expand our resource base and continue establishing a new extraction cluster within the region, where we will be able, within the next five years, to produce up to 8.5 million tonnes of hydrocarbons per year.”

Gazprom Neft Orenburg is one of the most significant oil and gas producing companies in the Orenburg Oblast, active across five fields within the Orenburgsky, Novosergiyevsky, Perebolotsky and Sorochinsky districts of the Orenburg Oblast.