Licence 67 (Ledovy)


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 Arawak Energy exercised their right under the AMI agreement to participate in Licence 67 for 50%, however PetroNeft remains as operator.

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
  • There is believed to be significant upside within existing discoveries — two structures have previously tested oil but require further appraisal
  • Discoveries have potential to form the basis of a future development project
  • Modest initial 3 year work commitment involves reprocessing old well and seismic data, acquisition of 750 km of new seismic data and drilling of one well
  • 2011 work programme to drill two wells at Ledovoye oil field and Cheremshanskaya prospect
Figure 1

Location

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.

Brief History

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.

Licence and Work Programme

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 focussed 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.

Figure 3
Cheremshanskaya Structure
Cheremshanskaya Prospect

In 2011 two wells will be drilled, one at the Ledovoye oil field and a second at the Chermshanskaya prospect.

Arawak Area of Mutual Interest

The Licence is within Western Siberia and thus falls within the 2008 Area of Mutual Interest agreement between PetroNeft and Arawak Energy Limited (Arawak). Under this agreement Arawak is entitled to participate in up to a 50 percent interest in the Licence. They exercised this right in January 2010. PetroNeft will remain as operator of the Licence.