Novoport Field, Yamal District

The Novoport (Novoportovskoe) oil-gas-condensate field located in Russia is one of the biggest green-field projects in the Yamal region and is located approximately 250km from the city of Nadym.

Gazprom Neft started drilling activity at the first production well on well pad No.2 in August 2012 and completed the same in 2014. The first shipment of oil, containing more than 10,000t, from the field was made through the Gulf of Ob in May 2013. Full-scale drilling programme is proposed to be undertaken in 2014 and commercial production is expected to begin in 2015.

Gazprom Neft applied hydraulic fracturing method at Novoport for the very first time on Yamal Peninsula in May 2013. The central oil gathering and processing facility at Novoport will have a processing capacity of 5.5Mtpa.

Discovery and details of Novoport field

The Novoport oil-gas-condensate field was discovered in 1964. The license and assets of the field were transferred to Gazprom Neft-Novy Port in 2011. Gazprom Neft acquired 90% ownership of the Gazprom Neft-Novy Port in December 2012, while the remaining is owned by OJSC Gazprom.

The Novoport field is a part of Yamal oil-gas condensate fields and is located to the south-east of the Peninsula in YaNAD. The field is hosted by the Jurassic and the Neocomian deposits. The Jurassic deposits are proposed to be developed using controlled directional wells and horizontal wells. The Neocomian deposits will be developed using horizontal wells.

The Novoport field comprises of eight production wells, contained in two multi-well pads. The first well pad comprises of five wells and the second well pad comprises of three production wells. The first production well, measuring 2,200m in length, was spud in May 2012. The third horizontal well at the second well pad, which commenced production in October 2013, is more than 930m long and has a flow rate of 210tpd.

The field has the potential to export year-round offshore oil using the atomic icebreaker Vaigach. A test voyage was conducted from the port of Sabetta to the field, which is located approximately 400km south of Cape Kamenny.

As of January 2014, the Novoport field is estimated to contain reserves of 454 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe).

Transportation of oil and gas from the Novoport field

Oil produced from the Novoport field will be conveyed to the loading terminal on Cape Kamenny through the 106km-long Novoportovskoye field-Mys-Kamenny pressure oil pipeline. It will then be transported to Murmansk by Ice-7 class tankers.

The Arctic loading terminal (ALT) is expected to be commissioned by November 2015 and will provide for the continuous shipment of oil. The terminal will comprise of a 3km-long onshore oil pipeline, a 7.9km offshore pipeline, a delivery and acceptance station, a tanker loading unit and a loading tower with mooring system.

During the initial stages of development, gas produced at Novoport will be re-injected into the reservoir. Proposals are being made to construct a gas pipeline for transporting the produced gas to Gazprom’s gas transportation system.

Construction

Major works at Novoport include the construction of a central oil processing facility (CPF), oil loading terminal and a pipeline from well No.146 to the CPF, a gas engine power plant, in-field flow line, and a high voltage power line. The project also includes the establishment of an oil depot at Cape Kamenny.

Contractors involved

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Arctic continuous shipment oil terminal at the Novoportovskoye field was awarded to Stroytransgaz.

The contract for the manufacture and delivery of the Arctic loading terminal was awarded to Bluewater. Gulf Piping was subcontracted for the manufacturing the ALT terminal base and complete assembly. ThyssenKrupp Rothe was engaged to manufacture main bearings for the terminal.

The subcontract for manufacturing pilot piles for the terminal was awarded to Sif Group, while ASK ROMEIN Staalbouw was subcontracted for the terminal conductor.

MTZK was engaged to provide anticorrosion protection, thermal insulation and ballast pipeline installation services.