Yamal is the future of the Russian gas industry

Taking part in the commissioning ceremony were Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Dmitry Kobylkin, Governor of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, heads of the Company’s structural units, subsidiaries and contracting agencies.

Gazprom gradually builds up its production capacities in the Bovanenkovskoye field and develops the Cenomanian-Aptian deposits. The annual design capacity of the new gas facility (GP-1) is 30 billion cubic meters. As a comparison, it is more than the Company will be producing from the Chayandinskoye field, the largest one in Yakutia.

Earlier in 2012, the first gas facility (GP-2, 60 billion cubic meters) was launched at the Bovanenkovskoye field. A total of three gas facilities with 115 billion cubic meters in annual capacity will operate in the Cenomanian-Aptian deposits.

Innovation technologies and engineering solutions were applied while building the new gas facility. In particular, the single technical infrastructure is used for extracting gas from productive deposits at different depths – Cenomanian (520 to 700 meters) and Aptian-Albian ones (1,200 to 2,000 meters). It saves construction expenditures and increases field productivity.

The technical operations are highly automated and unmanned technologies are used at the facility. Gas treatment is carried out applying the most advanced and environmentally clean method of low-temperature separation with the use of domestic turbo expanders.

In the process of construction special attention was paid to preserving the unique nature of Yamal. Process facilities occupy the least possible area, while vapor-liquid heat stabilizers and insulated pipes for wells reduce the impact on the permafrost. In-plant recycling systems eliminate water and soil pollution.

Gas from the new gas facility is fed into the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia via the Bovanenkovo – Ukhta gas trunkline system (GTS) under the pressure of 11.8 MPa (120 Ata). It was possible to reach the record pressure for onshore gas pipelines mainly due to unique domestic 1,420 millimeter pipes made of K65 (X80) steel and with a smooth interior coating, developed on Gazprom’s order. Currently, the construction of GTS’ second string is underway.

The Yamal Peninsula has a strategic importance for the evolution of the Russian gas industry, and this requires building greenfield production facilities in the hash Yamal climate as well as constructing motor roads, power plants, a rail connection and an airport. Explored and provisionally estimated gas reserves there exceed 16.7 trillion cubic meters. In the long view Yamal will be among three biggest gas production centers of Russia with the potential annual output reaching 310 to 360 billion cubic meters of gas by 2030 – over one-third of forecasted gas production in Russia for that period.

“The development of an unparalleled gas production center is well underway in Yamal, in harsh Arctic latitudes. The annual design capacity at Bovanenkovo has already amounted to 90 billion cubic meters of gas. It is commensurate with the volume supplied by Gazprom to Germany, Turkey and Italy last year, and this is not the full productivity yet. Yamal is the future of the Russian gas industry,” said Alexey Miller.

With its explored and provisionally estimated gas reserves at 4.9 trillion cubic meters, Bovanenkovskoye is the largest field in the Yamal Peninsula.

The full capacity of the Cenomanian-Aptian deposits of the Bovanenkovskoye field is estimated at 115 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The field will be developed using more than 200 production, infrastructure and auxiliary facilities. The staff number will exceed 1.8 thousand people (some 3 thousand with the account of service companies).

The actual gas production in the field is gradually rising with regard to the market demand. In 2012 (the year of commissioning) 4.9 billion cubic meters of gas were produced, in 2013 – 22.8 billion cubic meters. In 2014 the field is expected to yield in excess of 40 billion cubic meters of gas.

In the long run the annual gas production from the Bovanenkovskoye field, with the account of Neocomian-Jurassic deposits, will reach 140 billion cubic meters of gas.