OREANDA-NEWS. On 24 March Salym Petroleum Development (SPD) launched ASP mixing unit at the Salym group of fields. This unit is the key facility in the infrastructure of the pilot EOR project which involves injection of a three-component mixture — alkali, surfactant, and polymer — into the formation. The start-up ceremony took place in Moscow today, attended by Kirill Molodtsov, Deputy Minister of Energy of the RF; Natalia Komarova, Governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra; and other high-ranking guests.

“Implementation of the ASP technology at the Salym group of fields is a unique experiment for Russia, which opens a new page in the history of oil production. Our company is the first in the country to implement an EOR method which makes it possible to produce an additional 30% of oil from the subsoil. I am certain that this technology will make it possible to develop dozens of Western Siberia’s fields in a more sustainable manner. Moreover, it will help making a substantial contribution to the social and economic development of the region and the country as a whole by generating additional payments to the budget, creating new jobs, providing incentives for local business development,” Alexey Govzich, SPD CEO, noted.

The chemical mixing unit’s capacity is 1,000 m3/day. The process of preparing the three-component ASP mixture involves four stages: fine water treatment; inline blending of the treated water with loose chemicals (alkali and salt); preparation of a viscous polymer solution in oxygen-free environment; pumping viscous surfactant from the tanks with subsequent mixing with solvent and water.

SPD has been studying the ASP technology since 2008. The company has carried out a number of laboratory and field tests together with its shareholders — Shell Group and Gazprom Neft. The results of single-well tracer test carried out at the West Salym field in 2009 demonstrated an opportunity to produce 90% of residual post-waterflood oil. In 2014-2015, in order to execute a pilot ASP project, the company has built 7 wells, ASP mixing unit, emulsion treatment unit for ASP fluids, as well as ASP pipeline.

Salym Petroleum Development is a 50/50 joint venture company between Shell and Gazprom Neft. Since 2003 SPD has been developing the Salym group of oilfields (with ultimate recoverable reserves of 140 million tons) which is located in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and includes West Salym, Upper Salym, and Vadelyp fields. The Salym Project is the largest onshore investment project involving foreign capital in Russia’s oil producing industry. SPD’s cumulative annual production by beginning of 2016 was about 65 million tons.