Russian natural gas producer Novatek announced discovery of a new natural gas and gas condensate field at the North-Obskiy license area, located in the shallow waters of the Ob Bay, in the Arctic Ocean. The announcement was made after the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Arctic LNG 3, completed the testing of the first exploration well at the area.
The North-Obskoye field has estimated reserves of more than 320 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas under Russian reserve classification, and its total resources at the drilled well area are estimated at more than 900 bcm of natural gas. The reserves estimates will be submitted to the Russian State Reserves commission for confirmation within November 2018.
The latest findings could significantly support the company’s planned Arctic LNG 2 project, the giant liquefied natural gas project in the Gulf of Ob. French oil giant Total acquired stake at the project in late May.
With a production capacity of approximately 19.8 million tons per year (Mt/year), or 535,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), Arctic LNG 2 is expected to unlock more than 7 billion boe of hydrocarbons’ resources in the onshore Utrenneye gas and condensate field.
The project will involve the installation of three gravity-based structures in the Gulf of Ob on which will be installed the three liquefaction trains of 6.6 Mt/year capacity each.
In the same way as for Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG 2 production will be delivered to international markets by a fleet of ice-class LNG carriers that will be able to use the Northern Sea Route for cargoes destined for Asia.
The discovery of significant hydrocarbon reserves at the North-Obskoye field is an important starting point for one of our future LNG projects in the Arctic region. Under the Russian reserve classification, the North-Obskoye field will be included into the “unique” category in terms of reserves size. The favorable geographical location of the field, its huge resource base and our accumulated LNG experience are important prerequisites to successfully implement this new LNG project,
…noted Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of Novatek’s Management Board.
