Messoyakhaneftegaz becomes the 1st Russian company to implement a unique APG utilisation project

Tyumen, July 30 - Neftegaz.RU. Messoyakhaneftegaz, a Gazprom Neft-Rosneft joint venture, has commissioned an underground gas storage facility at its Messoyakhsky license block.

This is the 1st time in Russia’s domestic oil industry that associated petroleum gas (APG) at one field has been utilised at undeveloped gas-bearing strata at another. Implementing this unique project will allow Messoyakhaneftegaz to address its target of taking APG utilisation levels to 95%.

All necessary infrastructure facilities have been built at 2 license blocks at the Messoyakha group of fields. Gas produced during oil production at Vostochno-Messoyakha will be processed and compressed at a 1.5 bcm annual-capacity compressor station, subsequently feeding into an approximately 50 km pipeline and transported to Zapadno-Messoyakha, where it will be pumped into a 70,000 sq.m. underground storage facility.

Construction of gas facilities has been underway since 2018, with approximately 30,000 tonnes of materials and technological resources - including domestically produced equipment - having been delivered to the standalone field. Digital solutions facilitating oversight of safety and process parameters - including online oversight from control centres in Tyumen and St Petersburg - have been deployed at these new facilities.

Geotechnical monitoring has been undertaken throughout to protect the sensitive ecosystem of the polar region, with the compressor station and gas storage infrastructure having been built on thermal-stabilising supports, and the section of the gas pipeline running under the Messoyakha river bed being constructed using directional drilling, as well as benefiting from further protection. The use of block-modular construction techniques - at optimum operational readiness - in the construction of infrastructure facilities helped ensure rapid construction.

“Effective APG utilisation throughout our company currently stands at 95%. Thanks to innovative approaches in APG utilisation we are also on course to achieve our target at the Messoyakha group of fields - clearly demonstrating our priorities in taking a rational approach to the potential of the Arctic region’s natural-resources.”, said Vadim Yakovlev Deputy CEO for Exploration and Production, Gazprom Neft.