Pilot operation of the field was started in 2005.
On 15 October 2008, 1st oil produced at the Verkhnechonskoye field was delivered.
In 2009, the field produced through 41 oil wells 1.18 million tons of oil, equal to 23 500 barrels per day (3,740 m3/d).
The field is one of the earliest remote large scale oil production projects in the Extreme North of the Eastern Siberia with no extensive infrastructure.
Its the largest oil field in the Nepa-Botuoba regional high, based on geological AB1C1 reserves.
The estimated recoverable reserves of the field are 253 million tonnes of oil condensate in the AB1B2 category and 161 billion m3 of gas in the B1B2 category.
According to API, the quality of oil is high. the oil is light - 34 degrees and the sulfur content of oil is low. During field operations from 2013 to 2019, the company accumulated geological and geophysical information from production wells and based on the results of the core sampling collection, the geological model of the field structure, including its petrophysical model, was updated.
Verkhnechonskneftegaz, a Rosneft subsidiary, operates the field.
Since 2017, China´s Beijing Gas Group Co. Ltd. holds a 20% share of Verkhnechonskneftegaz.
A lack of export options and technical challenges delayed commercial production for 3 decades.
It supplies the ESPO pipeline and plays an important role for Rosneft to fulfil its oil supply contracts with China.
In 2018, the company launched a gas project to inject associated petroleum gas into an underground storage facility for subsequent use.
In 2019 Verkhnechonskneftegaz has extracted the 70-millionth tonne of oil at the field.
