Sevmorneftegaz (a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom) has begun drilling exploration well number seven in the Barents Sea located Shtokman gas condensate field.

The drilling operations are being conducted in line with the licensing commitments. The field reserves are expected to be potentially increased based on the drilling results.

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Well number seven is located 550 km from the Kola Peninsula. The sea depth at the drilling site makes up 340 meters.

The drilling customer is ZAO Sevmorneftegaz, which holds licenses for geological exploration and production of gas & condensate in the Shtokman field. The general contractor is OOO Gazflot (a wholly owned subsidiary of OAO Gazprom). The well is being drilled with the Deepsea Delta semi-submersible drilling rig provided on a contractual basis by the Norwegian Hydro company.

The Shtokman gas condensate field is located in the central part of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea offshore.

Approved in January 2006 by the RF Nature Ministry’s State Commission for Mineral Reserves, Shtokman’s C1+C2 reserves account for 3.7 tcm and over 31 mln t of gas and condensate, respectively.

One of the world’s largest gas condensate fields, Shtokman is being prepared for development and further marketing of liquefied natural gas to the USA and other countries.