Five two-borehole horizontal wells had previously been drilled at Umseiskoye field. The results indicate that drilling more horizontal boreholes proves to be a better recovery method.

Drilling multiple borehole horizontal wells is one of the best and effective ways of increasing the oil recovery factor and hitting tight reserves. Additional horizontal boreholes reaching out to a pay zone from an individual well, increase the well’s productivity and its drainage area without drilling new wells, thus cutting costs.

Gazprom Neft adopted a tight reserves program in 2012. The program seeks to bring 60 million tons of additional reserves into development by 2015, and to reach a 300 million target by 2020.

“One of the challenges any company is facing today is choosing and implementing new technologies effectively. Recovering tight reserves is a serious technological challenge. However, we are constantly improving our capabilities and trying to make use of the most advanced methods for developing resources. Some of the things that seemed to be a breakthrough only yesterday, today are becoming a widely accepted practice. For example, Gazprom Neft used multistage hydraulic fracturing for the first time less than two years ago. By now, that method is used across the company on a massive scale. We are creating special competency centers at Gazprom Neft that are accumulating, adapting, and helping circulate successful technological solutions. All of this will allow us to bring new reserves into development, boost production, and raise efficiency,” said Gazprom Neft First Deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev.