OREANDA-NEWS. On 03 July 2009 was announced, that OAO NK “Russneft” goes on developing Shapsha group of oilfields (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Western Siberia), implementing large-scale drilling programs, building up the output and putting into operation new oilfields of this license area. In May 2009 Sredne-Shapshinskoye oil- and gas field was put into pilot production. Verkhne-Shapshinskoye oilfield was put into test production in the end of 2008. Industrial exploitation of Nizhne-Shapshinskoye oilfield started earlier, in 2006. The current effective pay of these oilfields exceeds 80 million tons of oil.

Implementation of this project is of strategic importance for OAO NK “RussNeft”. In 2004-2005 the Company created the basic engineering infrastructure of those oilfields, built the main production, administrative and on-site facilities and prepared the group of oilfields for stage-by-stage putting into operation, which started in 2006 with putting Nizhne-Shaphinskoye oilfield on production. Shapsha group is being developed by a subsidiary of the company – OAO “Neftianaya Aktsionernaya Compania “Aki-Otyr”.

The company is carrying on active drilling works. During the year the operating well stock has been doubled and at present numbers to 76 wells. Only since the beginning of 2009 20 new wells have been built (during the analogous period of 2008 only 5 wells were constructed). Four of them feature horizontal wellbores. The average flow rate of horizontal wellbores amounts to 88 tons/day, that of vertical ones – 40 tons/day. It is planned to have put 35 more new wells on operation before the end of 2009.

A considerable increment of output at Shapsha group of oilfields is accounted for by putting new oilfields into operation. During the five months of 2009 oilmen of the company have produced more than 343 tons of oil, which is 2.6 times more than during the analogous period of the last year. The daily flow rate at Shapsha group in June 2009 approached the level of 3 thousand tons.

Production growth can also be accounted for by implementation of the program of geological and engineering works.  In 2008 at the oilfields of the company there were effected 3 hydraulic fracturings with the efficiency of 25 tons/day at the wells of current declining well stock.

In 2008 at Sredne-Shapshinskoye oilfield 3D seismic works were carried on. The explored area is about 191 km2. This year geological and exploration works are continued at Verkhne-Shaphinskoye oilfield, where the explored area is about 105 km2.

Large-scaled technological works, forming up of inter-oilfield production infrastructure of the plant (roadways, bridges, cluster sites) which are being currently carried out by “RussNeft” within the frames of implementation of the project of Shapsha group development will in near future enable “Aki-Otyr” to overpass the annual oil output of 1.5 million tons.