MOSCOW -- Gazprom Neft has acquired a subsoil usage licence for Novosarmaskoye field in the Orenburg Oblast. The licence — for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons — was issued by the Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency, and runs until May 5, 2037. The licensed block’s total area runs to 26.56 km2.
Novosamarksoye field was discovered by Gazprom Neft within the Uransky licence block located in the Sorochinsky District of the Orenburg Oblast in 2016, after drilling of a prospecting well revealed, under testing, the presence of free-flowing oil. Oil in place is estimated at more than 8 million tonnes. This is the first discovery at the block under investigation. Gazprom Neft specialists believe the Uransky block to contain an entire series of small fields.
Alexei Vashkevich, head of geological exploration and resource base development, Gazprom Neft, commented: “Obtaining a subsoil usage licence for the Novosamarksoye field is yet another major step forward in developing the Orenburg production cluster. Cutting-edge technologies in geological prospecting and the processing of the resulting information, together with effective collaboration between those of the companies’ divisions and subsidiaries involved in geological prospecting, mean we are on course to fulfil our strategic objective of full reserves replacement. Added to which, we are actively working on improving the quality of our resource base, and have already embarked on geological prospecting works that will further improve efficiency in the process of field development.”