Gazprom Neft and Mitsubishi Corporation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding at this year’s Eastern Economic Forum, with the parties agreeing to assess opportunities for cooperation in developing high-technology projects in the shallow marine shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk,* including sharing competencies and technologies in exploration and development. The agreement was signed by Naoto Miyamoto, General Manager, Europe/Russia Oil and Gas Business Department, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Sergei Matrosov, Head of Business Development and Offshore Regulation Department, Gazprom Neft.

Gazprom Neft has an extensive portfolio of offshore projects in Russia, as well as unique technical expertise. The company made a major new discovery - the Neptune field, on the Sea of Okhotsk continental shelf - in 2017. Work here is now ongoing, involving the use of cutting-edge technologies - many of which are being used in Russia for the first time. Innovative solutions in geological prospecting, drilling, and logistics have allowed the company to reduce lead-times and costs in investigating the field’s potential. The experience gained in Sakhalin will be rolled-out across other offshore projects the company decides to implement in the future.

Andrey Patrushev, Deputy CEO for Offshore Development, Gazprom Neft, commented: 
“Offshore development is one of the company’s strategic priorites. Gazprom Neft is actively developing and investigating all of the offshore licence blocks in our portfolio. Several of the company’s projects are of major importance for the oil industry in both Russia and worldwide. The company has extensive experience and expertise, sought after at the global level. Collaboration with leading international manufacturing corporations, and the mutually beneficial sharing of technologies, opens up new opportunities for implementing high-technology projects on the Russian continental shelf, for us and our partners.”

* The project concerns the development of the Ayashsky license block, located in the Sea of Okhotsk in north—eastern part of the Sakhalin Island continental shelf, some 55 kilometres offshore. Sea depth at the drilling site for the first well is 62 metres. Some 2,150 square metres of 3D seismic works have already been completed at the Ayashsky block.