The Kharyaga oil field is located in the Nenets Autonomous District near the village and the Kharyaga river of the same name in the south of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra. This territory 60 kilometers from the Arctic Circle belongs to the Timan-Pechora Resource Province. Geological exploration in Kharyaga began in 1977. Oil reserves in the field were estimated at 160 million tons. The word Kharyaga is Nenets. This toponym translates as "winding river."
Field Features
In addition to the Kharyaginsky proper, the East Kharyaginsky, North Kharyaginsky, as well as the Middle Kharyaginsky deposits are being developed. They were discovered back in the Soviet Union. For example, the development facilities of the Sredne-Kharyaginskoye field have been used by specialists for 30 years.
The heavily boggy territory and the dense river network required extraordinary technological solutions from the oil industry when setting up the production zone. Kharyaginskoye field is multi-layer, it consists of 27 deposits. Drilling and transportation of resources is complicated by the fact that the local oil contains a high concentration of paraffin, which is why it freezes at a temperature of only + 29 ° C. Moreover, in the associated gas of the field, Soviet geologists discovered life-threatening hydrogen sulfide. For this reason, the staff of the enterprise strictly complies with safety measures, numerous even by standard standards of the oil industry.
Climatic and environmental conditions
Located in the far north, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug has an average annual temperature of about - 5 ° C. Permafrost in this region reaches a depth of 350 meters. Because of this, the Kharyaga deposit was preparing for the start of industrial development more than usual - nine years. Production started in 1986. It was based and is based on the technological scheme for the development of Devonian sediments.
Local lakes are small in size. They are at the source of small streams and rivers. The depth of the lakes is 10 - 15 meters. The Kharyaginskoye field located in the tundra zone is characterized by cool, rainy and short summers. Its long winter is characteristic of the temperate continental climate on the border of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic.
Oil and oil pipeline
The reservoir oil of the Kharyaga field has a density of about 0.7 g / cm 3 . It is mined at several operational sites. Oil characteristics on each of them can differ. For example, the gas content of the production facility VI is significantly lower than the corresponding indicator at the production facility I. In terms of density and molar mass, oil from the Kharyaga field is normal. The current production level is 1.5 million tons per year.
The Kharyaginskoye oil field, the geological section of which is a traditional picture for its region, is being developed in stages. "Black Gold" is fully exported. It is transported through state oil trunk pipelines. The length of the route is 2,600 kilometers. The end point of the route is the Baltic port of Primorsk near St. Petersburg.
Infrastructure development
The first phase of production at the field was called the “advanced production phase”. Oil was pumped out of the central part of Kharyaga, in which the initial three wells were equipped. The second phase began in 2000. It implied an increase in production volumes and the start of water injection. The indicators were limited by the throughput of the main pipeline and the insufficient number of wells. They reached the figure of 20 thousand barrels of oil per day.
In 2007, the next, third phase of development began. Its goal was the development of additional reserves, as well as an increase in production to 30 thousand barrels per day. A facility was set up for the preparation and selection of gas, which led to the cessation of burning of excess raw materials. Drilling of new wells began (a total of 21). 12 of them are mining, another 9 are for injection. The construction of additional bushes (East and North) has begun.
The proprietors
The field is developed under the PSA - production sharing agreement, in which several companies establish a joint venture. The document was signed in Moscow on December 20, 1995. Then the parties to the agreement were the French joint-stock company Total Exploration Development Russia and the Russian Federation, whose interests were represented by the federal government and the administration of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
In the 1990s PSA was a new and unusual legal form for the domestic economy. The agreement assumed that the state would reimburse the costs of foreign investors for the creation and development of the field’s infrastructure. At the same time, the authorities receive income, which took the form of royalties - a tax on the use of minerals.
The agreement, valid for 20 years, entered into force in 1999. Since then, new domestic and foreign investors have entered the Kharyaginsk PSA. They were Norsk-Hydro (Norway), which soon changed its name to Statoil, and also the NOC, Nenets Oil Company. In 2010, Zarubezhneft joined the project. She bought from Statoil and Total 10% each.
New operator
Kharyaginsky field has several official subsoil users. Recent changes to the configuration of assets occurred in early 2016. The French company Total sold a 20% stake in Zarubezhneft. The buyer has become the main operator of the field. The deal amounted to about $ 100 million.
The initiator of the sale was Total, which was included in the project back in 1995. The transaction took place against the backdrop of the desire of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation to increase the profitability of the field by involving Zarubezhneft in its management. The French company decided to change the object of investment because Yamal seems to be a much more promising region for it than the Kharyaginskoye field. Total made a deal, because the buyer of its share, Zarubezhneft, is well aware of the structure of the industry that the Nenets Autonomous District built.
Latest events
Especially in order to become an operator, a Russian company has created a subsidiary. It became LLC Zarubezhneft-production Kharyaga. The company was registered on September 28, 2015. On the eve of the transaction, the structure of the still operating French operator Total was carefully studied by the consulting company Boston Consulting Group. The data provided by Zarubezhneft by it prompted the company to expand its staff. Many Total employees went to work for the new operator.
Distance Usinsk - Kharyaginskoye field is 164 kilometers. This route is very important for oil industry workers, since the road to the district center in the Komi Republic is the most convenient way to reach civilization by land. Having become an operator, Zarubezhneft set about optimizing the company, which helped it save significant funds (250 million rubles) and direct them to comply with social obligations to its employees. In general, the company was able not only to safely adopt the process established by the French, but also to qualitatively improve the performance of Total.
Prospects
In the summer of 2016, the new operator adopted a capital construction program, designed for the period from 2017 to 2019. According to her, Zarubezhneft is going to equip new wells and put into operation all the unfinished objects of the filling stations. The company decided to abandon the outdated diesel generator sets that provided the field with electricity (they will be replaced by modern grid electricity). Among other things, this will reduce operator overhead and make production more efficient.
The construction of gas compression facilities will help granulate sulfur and utilize most of the gas. In 2018, a new shift workers' village will be prepared with three residential buildings, interconnected by warm passages. Comfortable housing for oil industry workers will meet all modern standards.