The settlement of Razvilka, Moscow Oblast saw the inauguration of the Research Center for Reservoir Systems and the first phase of the corporate core storage facility located on the territory of the Experimental and Prototype Base of VNIIGAZ.

Participating in the event were Vlada Rusakova, Member of the Management Committee – Head of the Strategic Development Department of Gazprom, heads and experts from specialized subdivisions of Gazprom and VNIIGAZ.

Addressing the meeting, Vlada Rusakova noted that Gazprom’s access to new strategic areas of gas production – the Yamal Peninsula, Eastern Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic offshore would demand a considerable scope of geological exploration to be followed by intensified studies of rock samples.

“The inauguration of the Research Center for Reservoir Systems will allow Gazprom to further increase the effectiveness of geological exploration, the quality of design approaches to field development and the efficiency of hydrocarbon production. Additionally, the creation of the corporate core storage facility will make it possible to integrate the activities related to storage of formation samples extracted from wells,” stated Vlada Rusakova.

Background:

The Research Center for Reservoir Systems and the corporate core storage facility are being constructed under the plan of actions as part of the Comprehensive Program for improving field development efficiency between 2008 and 2010.

The first phase of the corporate core storage facility with a capacity of 76 thousand linear meters is intended for centralized storage of Gazprom’s core material. Bringing onstream the second phase of the storage facility, projected for the autumn of 2009, will increase the total storage capacity to 184 thousand linear meters.

The Research Center for Reservoir Systems and the corporate core storage facility will secure a more complete spectrum of initial core studies and classification of obtained results.

The core is a formation sample extracted from a well. The core contains information about the physicochemical properties of rocks and useful minerals contained there. The data obtained from core studies allow creating simulation models necessary for hydrocarbon reservoir engineering and reserve assessment as well as development parameters forecasting.

VNIIGAZ was established in 1948 and is Gazprom’s research & development, technology & engineering center in developing the resource base, gas and condensate production, transportation and comprehensive processing as well as in promoting environmental and industrial safety of gas industry facilities.