OREANDA-NEWS. March 4, 2011. Gazprom Neft has commissioned two Cenomanian gas pools, located in the Muravlenkovsky and Novogodni deposits, with their development being handled by the company's subsidiaries - Muravlenkovskneft and Gazpromneft-Noyabrskneftegaz. Alexei Miller (Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Neft), Alexander Dyukov (Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft) and Dmitri Kobylkin (Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area) took part in an official ceremony to celebrate the opening of the field at the Muravlenkovsky deposit.

Production of around 3.2 billion cubic metres of gas per year is planned during the development of the gas zone in the Muravlenkovsky deposit, during 2011 and beyond. The category A, B and C1 gas reserves amount to 54.4 billion cubic metres of gas, the depth of the pool is 1,000 metres, and 4 multiple-well platforms with 20 wells were built for the development of the pool.

It is estimated that 1 billion cubic metres of gas will be produced in the Novogodni deposit in 2011, with annual production volume being maintained at the same level in the future. Category A, B and C1 gas reserves in the Cenomanian pool amount to 9.3 billion cubic metres. 11 wells on 3 multiple-well platforms have been drilled to put the zone, which is located at a depth of around 700 metres, into production.

Modern minimal manning technologies will be used to develop the Cenomanian gas pools in the Muravlenkovsky and Novogodni deposits, minimising human participation in production management. The machines will function hands-free, with staff supervising production work from control rooms using telemechanics.

Gazprom Neft will increase annual production by 3.4 million tonnes of oil equivalent through using the gas fields in the Muravlenkovsky and Novogodni deposits. The company will continue to examine the possibility of launching simultaneous explorations of the oil and gas zones in its other deposits, where production synergies can be assured.

"The development of the small gas pools, which form part of the deposits where Gazprom Neft is carrying out production, will help increase the cost-effectiveness of using company resources. In addition they will help to bring the volume of hydrocarbon production up to 100 million tonnes of oil equivalent per year, as stipulated in the company's growth strategy for the period to 2020", commented Alexei Miller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom Neft.