Salym Petroleum Development N.V. (SPD) and the Government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KHMAO) – Yugra have conducted a round table session in Khanty-Mansiysk on the issues of applying cutting edge enhanced oil recovery and hard-to-recover reserves production technologies. SPD and Yugra Government representatives have discussed the significance of executing projects in cutting edge oil production technologies for maintaining the pace of oil production industry development, both in the Okrug and in Russia as a whole. The central topics of the round table were projects in enhanced oil recovery (ASP technology) and development of hard-to-recover Bazhenov shale oil reserves executed by SPD on the Salym group of oilfields.

 

We remind that ASP technology is a promising enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method based on injection of alkali, surfactant and polymer targeting at the residual oil that remains undeveloped after a conventional waterflood. This technology has been applied at oilfields in various countries of the world, including China, India, Canada and the USA. In accordance with the results of the application, oil recovery factor gain is estimated to be 10-20% (from original oil-in-place) vs. conventional waterflood.

 

“All over the world, existing hydrocarbon production regions are rapidly depleted. In Russia, sources of conventional reserves have also reached a high level of depletion. This, along with the constantly growing demand for energy resources, causes oil and gas companies to switch to innovative development tracks in order to find new ways of hydrocarbon production. For Russia, and Yugra in particular, implementing new technologies means access to billions of tons of hydrocarbons, cost optimization, efficiency growth and development of related industries. However, there are several factors that hinder full-scale implementation of these technologies. Thus, such meetings between representatives of business and state authorities are an excellent forum for jointly looking for possible ways of removing these restrictions,” noted Yakov Volokitin, SPD New Technologies Manager and Petroleum Engineering Manager.

 

The round table, chaired by Mr. Vladimir Korkunov, Acting Director of Subsoil Usage Department of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, was attended by directors of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug Government departments, heads of administrations of relevant federal services, representatives of the Shpilman Research Centre for Sustainable Mining, the KHMAO-Yugra Autonomous Establishment “Technopark for High Technologies”, and SPD executives. Following the result of the discussion, a resolution was adopted to conduct an extended event of a similar nature involving representatives of federal authorities and leading oil producing companies.