PetroNeft Resources wholly owned subsidiary «LLC Lineynoye» won the State Auction for the Ledovy Licence No. 67 in the Tomsk Region of Western Siberia in December 2009 for 42 million Roubles (US$1.39 million). In January 2010 Belgrave Naftogas (formerly Arawak Energy) exercised their right under the AMI agreement to participate in Licence 67 for 50%, however PetroNeft remained as operator.
In 2021 PetroNeft completed the acquisition of a 40% interest in Licence 67 through the acquisition of 40% from Belgrave Naftogas (formerly Arawak Energy) on completion of the acquisition, PetroNeft's interest in the licence increased to 90% with the remaining 10% being retained by Belgrave Naftogas.
Licence 67
Highlights
Ledovy Licence 67 is located in the main oil bearing region of the Tomsk Oblast west of the Ob River
The large 2,447 km2 Licence is surrounded by proven and producing oil and gas fields and is located close to existing road, power and pipeline infrastructure
Russian registered C3 (possible) recoverable resources are 55 million barrels in 3 prospects
The 2010 work programme involved the reprocessing and reinterpretation of 21 previous wells and 4,432 km of vintage 2D seismic data located in and adjacent to the Licence area
Based on this reinterpretation Ryder Scott currently estimates PetroNeft's net 2P reserves at the Ledovoye oil field to be 14 million bbls. PetroNeft's net P3 reserves plus exploration resources (P4) are estimated at 110 million bbls
The 2011/2012 work programme discovered a new oil field with three separate oil pools at Cheremshanskoye and confirmed oil in the primary Upper Jurassic objective at Ledovoye oil field along with a potential new oil pool in the secondary Lower Cretaceous interval.
In 2014 3D Seismic data was acquired over the Ledovoye (61.68 sq. km.) and Cheremshanskoye (95.16 sq. km.) oil fields.
Five year extension to Exploration Licence approved by Rosnedra in October 2014.
In 2018 the company successfully drilled Cheremshanskaya No. 4 (C-4) well. The C-4 well was designed to test a large portion of the field which is structurally higher than the previous wells based on the 3D seismic data acquired in 2014. The well flowed up to 399bfpd.
In 2019 the company gained State Reserves Committee (GKZ) approval of 2.5Mtons C1+C2 reserves for the Cheremshanskoye field (approximately equivalent to 2P reserves of 19.26mmbbls) and gains an approximate reduction of 15% in the Mineral Extraction Tax for the field.
In 2020 a extended well test on the C-4 well naturally flowed up to 476 barrels of good quality 100% oil. Approximately 1,200 barrels of oil was produced and sold to the local refinery at competitive market rates.
In 2021 the Cheremshanskoye field was brought into year round production at an initial 300bopd from the C-4 well.
The Ledovy Licence area is located west of the Ob River in the main oil bearing part of the Tomsk Oblast (Figure 1). The Licence has an area of 2,447 km2 and is surrounded by proven and producing oil and gas fields. Two producing oil fields, Grushevoye and Lomovoye, containing about 90 million barrels of C1+C2 reserves are located within the Licence area, but are excluded from the Licence. However, two existing drilled structures, Ledovoye and Sklonavaya, included in the Licence area have previously tested oil and may form the basis of a future development project (Figure 2).
The Vasyugan-Raskino oil pipeline and electric power lines run through the middle of the Licence area. There is a paved road that runs to Strezhevoy through the northwestern tip of the Licence area.
Exploration on the Ledovy Licence began in the 1950s with wells being drilled on large prospects identified by vintage seismic data. Modern 2D seismic data was subsequently acquired from 1980 to 2001. Russian registered C3 (possible) resources are currently 55 million barrels.
A total of 8 wells have been drilled on the Licence. PetroNeft has reviewed the drilled and currently mapped undrilled structures and believes that there is significant upside within existing discoveries, potentially by-passed pay and new exploration prospects within the block. Two of the previously drilled structures, Ledovoye and Sklonavaya, have tested oil but have not to date been assigned any C1+C2 (proved and probable) reserves. PetroNeft believes that these discoveries have potential to form the basis of a future development project on the Licence, but also intends to pursue an active exploration programme.
Source rocks are present in the Lower Jurassic Togur and Upper Jurassic Bazhenov formations. Nearby oil fields produce primarily from Upper Jurassic sandstone reservoir objectives and also Cretaceous sandstones.
The Licence is a 25 year exploration and production licence that is valid until 2035. The minimum work commitments are to re-analyse the data from old wells and seismic surveys, acquire 750 km of new 2D seismic and drill one well within 3 years. The bid consideration was 42 million Roubles (US$1.39 million).
The 2010 work programme focused on the overall re-evaluation of all the previous data on the Licence area with modern technology. Well and seismic data was reprocessed and the results of this evaluation will be used to acquire 750 km of new seismic data, which will help to determine the exploration priorities for the Licence area.
In 2011/2012 two wells were drilled, one at the Ledovoye oil field and a second at the Chermshanskaya prospect. These wells resulted in the discovery of a new oil field at Cheremshanskoye (December 2011) with multiple oil pools and the confirmation of the Upper Jurassic J1-3 oil pool at Ledovoye field with a potential new oil pool discovery in the lower Cretaceous (February 2012).
In 2014, 3D seismic data was acquired over the Ledovoye and Cheremshanskoye oil fields. A further delineation well on the Cheremshanskoye field is planned for 2018 based on the results of the 3D seismic.
In October 2014 a five year extension to the Exploration Licence was approved by Rosnedra.
In 2018 the Cheremshanskaya No. 4 (C-4) well was successfully drilled encountering 10.4m of net oil pay from two Upper Jurassic sands at a combined 399bfpd. The C-4 well was designed as a large step out appraisal well approximately 5km NNW from the C-3 well to test a significant updip part of the field identified on the 3D seismic data acquired in 2014.
Following completion of an all season road across the field, connecting to an existing all season road, the Cheremshanskoye field was brought into year round production through the C-4 well at an initial rate of approximately 300bopd.
The company is currently evaluating the potential full field development options to increase reserves and production.