TNK-BP announces that OJSC Orenburgneft (a member of the TNK-BP Group of Companies) jointly with leading global oilfield services company Weatherford has successfully completed a pilot project to deploy a motorized drilling system called MotarySteerableSystem (MSS), which will help to achieve a 15% efficiency gain when drilling wells with complex trajectories. Around 20 million rubles has been invested in the project.

 

TNK-BP is systematically pursuing a strategy of deploying new technological solutions at its production assets to boost efficiency and achieve acceptable project economics. When drilling complex wells with a large step-out, the required level of efficiency cannot be achieved using standard equipment. TNK-BP and Weatherford have deployed the unique MSS drilling system at the Shirokodolskoye, Garshinskoe and Morgunovskoe fields, improving well construction speeds by 10-15% and greatly reducing drilling risks. The cost of using MSS in complex wells is comparable with that of drilling ordinary wells using standard equipment. In 2013 the Company plans to scale up the technology to fields in Yamal and East Siberia.

 

"Around 30% of the wells at the Orenburg fields have a complex structure, which means additional expenditure on drilling," said Igor Rustamov, General Director, Orenburgneft, "MSS greatly increases the speed and quality of drilling and reduces the risks, while also holding down costs to previous levels."

 

TNK-BP is Russia’s third largest oil company and is owned by BP and the AAR consortium (Alfa Group/Access Industries/Renova) on a parity basis. Additionally, TNK-BP owns approximately 50% of the Russian oil and gas company Slavneft. TNK-BP’s share in Russia’s oil production (including its share in Slavneft) is about 16%. The Company’s total proved SEC LOF reserves are 9.115 billion BOE as of December 31, 2011.