From now until 2025, Russia is planning on starting 29 new projects. Capital investment is hitting the hundreds of billions, including $160bn alone from Gazprom.

Ahead of the International B2B oil & gas equipment and technology exhibition (MIOGE) to be held in Moscow between 23 - 26 April 2019, we look at 3 of Russia’s biggest oil & gas projects. 

Arctic LNG 2

The Arctic is gas company Novatek’s playground, where it will be spending an estimated $47.6bn on LNG projects within the Arctic circle. Once fully operational, LNG 2 will be pumping out 18.3m cubic metres of liquid gas a year. 

“Our plan is to create a major LNG production centre in the Russian Arctic zone that will rival Qatar, Australia and the United States,” said Novatek CFO Mark Gyetvay. 

Total and CNPC each hold a 20% stake, while China’s Silk Road Fund owns a 9.9% share. Novatek’s controlling share comes to 50.1%. Russia’s no.2 gas company says it will secure full finances by 2019.

Arctic LNG 2 will ultimately be made up of three 6.6-million-ton capacity LNG trains. Production will use a gravity-based structure (GSB) offshore in the Ob Bay. 

Rakuschechnoye Field development

• Timeframe: 2017 - ongoing

With the unprecedented block agreement dividing the Caspian’s waters in August 2018, regional E&P activity is set to heat up in a politically neutral zone.

Lukoil is already planning its next phase of its Caspian activity by developing its share of the rich Rakuschechnoye oil field. Discovered in 2001, Rakuschechnoye holds up to 39 million tons of oil alongside 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas.

At Rakuschechnoye, Lukoil has made its final infrastructure decision. Planned for construction are a fixed offshore ice-resistant platform, a dedicated living quarters platform, a crossover bridge, plus subsea interfiled pipelines and cable lines, connecting this rig to the V. Filanovsky project.

Drilling and construction work is only just entering the planning stages. Lukoil has outlined a commercial production start date of 2023. Once up and running, Rakuschechnoye’s oil production plateau will flat out at 1.2 million tons annually.

Russian West Arctic E&P

• Timeframe: 2018 - 2023

The future of Russian energy lies in the Arctic. Much of this will take part in the Western Arctic, where Arctic LNG 2 is located for example. That means Russian firms can draw upon their partners’ unique expertise in sub-zero temperatures.

Rosneft holds 19 license blocks for exploration across Wester Arctic seas. These are:

• 7 areas in the Barents Sea - Fedynsky, Central Barentsумылн, Perseyevsky, Albanovsky, Varnek, West Prinovozemelsky, Gusinozemelsky 
• 8 areas in the Pechora Sea - Russky, South Russky, Medynsko-Varandeysky, South Prinovozemelsky, West Matveyevsky, North Pomorsky-1 & 2, Pomorsky 
• 4 areas in the Kara Sea - East Prinovozemelskie-1, 2 & 3, North Karsky

Lying beneath the surface lies at least 17.3bn tons of total extractable oil and natural gas. 

With Russia’s Arctic ambitions comes a very real need to start developing, or begin buying, extreme-weather resistant equipment - cold-resistant jacks, rigs, subsea umbillicals, and so on. Sanctions will lower Russian access to this technology, but with options like localised equipment manufacturing worth exploring, there are lots of avenues open to suppliers in the current climate.

Discover Russia’s oil & gas project potential at the Moscow International Oil & Gas Exhibition