Gazprom Neft to raise oil production by 1.5% in 2019

SALEKHARD, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Apr 16 (PRIME) -- Russian oil company Gazprom Neft plans to raise its oil production by 1.5% on the year in 2019 and combined hydrocarbon production by 3% taking into account the oil output deal of OPEC and non-OPEC states, First Deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev told reporters on Tuesday.

In 2018, Gazprom Neft raised its hydrocarbon production by 3.5% on the year to 92.88 million tonnes of oil equivalent and production of oil, condensate, and liquid hydrocarbons by 0.9% to 62.99 million tonnes.

“We assume in our forecasts for the year that the agreement will be in force until mid-year. In this case, our oil production will be higher by about 1.5% than what we had last year, and the hydrocarbon amount will be higher by about 3%,” he said.

The mechanism for cooperation of OPEC and non-OPEC states should remain, and long-term cooperation should take into account a long-term balance of demand and supply. The countries should form acceptable long-term corridors for oil prices, he said.

He said that Gazprom Neft plans to raise the combined hydrocarbon output in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region by 9.5% on the year to 52 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2019, or more than 50% of the company’s combined output.

The company may sign agreements with the European partners, including German companies, on joint development of the Achimov deposits on the Yamal Peninsula, he said, adding that the company may try to expand the added income tax on the Achimov deposits.

“Achimov doesn’t have any targeted preferences other than the regional rate of mineral extraction tax, which it time-limited. We think that the scale of operations and technological challenges that we have to overcome in order to start efficient production at the deposits are worth provision of targeted preferences,” Yakovlev said.

The company may file for a mechanism similar to the one used for support of production at the Bazhenov formation, or expand the added income tax on the fields, he said.

Gazprom Neft is also to decide on transportation of oil from Achimov deposits of the Yamburgskoye oil and gas condensate field until the end of 2019. There are two options for that – construction of a sea terminal in the Gulf of Ob or oil pumping into the Zapolyarye–Purpe pipeline and further into Transneft’s system, he said, adding that the terminal’s capacity should amount to 5 million tonnes of oil to break even.

Yakovlev said that Gazprom Neft plans to choose partners for joint development of the Tazovskoye field in three months. Infrastructure at the field will be ready at the end of 2020, and Gazprom Neft expects the field to reach its plateau production of 7 million tonnes of oil equivalent in the next two years.

Recoverable reserves of the Novoportovskoye field exceed 250 million tonnes of oil and condensate and 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas under the C1 and C2 categories. Recoverable reserves of the Tazovskoye field stand at 72 million tonnes of oil, 4.6 million tonnes of condensate, and 183.3 billion cubic meters of gas.

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