Gazprom has brought comprehensive gas treatment unit No.22 (CGTU-22) into pilot operation to develop the Achimov deposits in the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field.

Thus, the Company has launched its first stand-alone project on gas production from the Achimov deposits featuring a more complex geological structure if compared to the conventional Cenomanian and Valanzhin deposits.

Once CGTU-22 reaches its design capacity, the project is expected to yield circa 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

So far, nine wells have been drilled at CGTU-22, of which only two wells with the daily productivity of some 1 million cubic meters have been put onstream.

Development of the hardly-accessible Achimov deposits provides the opportunity to produce additional gas volumes from declining fields.

Background:

Based on the geological exploration results, productivity of the Achimov deposits is confirmed for a vast area of the Nadym-Pur-Taz region. The bulk of recoverable hydrocarbon reserves of the regional Achimov deposits are concentrated within the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate field with Gazprom dobycha Urengoy (Gazprom’s 100 per cent subsidiary) being the subsurface user. The fields of Gazprom dobycha Urengoy alone contain the Achimov reserves in the amount of more than 1 trillion cubic meters of gas and 200 million tons of gas condensate (C1 category).

The hydrocarbon-bearing Achimov deposits lie at depths of almost 4,000 meters (Cenomanian deposits – at 1,100–1,700 meters, Valanzhin deposits – at 1,700–3,200 meters) at abnormally high formation pressure (over 600 Ata) and contain heavy paraffins.

Gazprom is developing the Achimov deposits through Achimgaz, a joint venture with Wintershall Holding AG. Since July 2008, the JV has been conducting pilot production from block 1A of the Achimov deposits in the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field. In November 2008 Novy Urengoy hosted the celebrations on the occasion of bringing the deposits into pilot operation.