VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Russia's state policy aimed at developing the gas sector in Eastern Russia is set forth in the Programme for Establishing a Unified System of Gas Production, Transportation and Supplies in East Siberia and the Far East with Account Taken of Possible Gas Exports to the Markets of China and other Asia Pacific Countries, as approved by the Russian Government on June 15, 2007. The Government instructed Gazprom to coordinate the implementation of this programme.
The creation of the gas sector in Eastern Russia serves to provide a powerful impetus to the region's social and economic development: gas in houses and apartments will enhance the quality of life while more opportunities will arise for boosting industrial production and increasing regional and local budget revenues. A comprehensive development of gas production hubs, gas pipeline construction, provision of gas supply and the establishment of gas processing and gas chemical facilities in the region will help to create new jobs. Expert analysis indicates that 100 billion roubles of capital investment will be used to create 70,000 to 80,000 new jobs.
Initial total offshore and onshore gas reserves in Eastern Russia exceed 67 trillion cu m, which is comparable to the reserves of the Yamal Peninsula. They will meet domestic requirements of Russia's eastern regions and ensure export supplies to the Asia-Pacific region in the long term. At present, the level of gas provision in eastern regions of the Russian Federation does not exceed 6%-7% on average, nearly 10 times less than in the European part of the country.
Russia's east is a new region in Gazprom's activities, outside the operating Unified Gas Supply System. The region's gas sector will be developed practically from the ground up. In 2009, Gazprom plans to complete general gas supply plans for 11 regions of East Siberia and the Far East. Currently work is under way in nine East Siberian and Far Eastern regions to design and build gas supply facilities.
The Eastern gas programme specifies the creation of new gas production hubs in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Irkutsk Region, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Sakhalin Region and the Kamchatka Territory to be united by a system of trunk gas pipelines. Such hubs are projected to produce about 150 billion cu m of gas by 2020. This figure is comparable to Russia's total annual gas exports to foreign markets.
The programme stipulates that gas processing and gas chemical facilities, including those for helium and LNG production, will be set up simultaneously with gas production hubs and the Unified Gas Supply System. The advantages of Eastern gas - containing many valuable elements - will be used with maximum effectiveness.
Gazprom's projects now underway within the Eastern gas programme
At present, Gazprom, its subsidiaries and allied companies hold over 40 licences to use mineral resource areas in East Siberia and the Far East. By 2030, Gazprom plans to ensure an increment of up to 7 trillion cu m in new gas reserves in the Siberian and Far Eastern regions.
Now, Gazprom is setting up the following gas production hubs under its Eastern gas programme:
Sakhalin gas production hub
To achieve the goals set by the Eastern gas programme, Gazprom has specified the order of priorities in developing the region's gas resources. Commercial gas production in East Siberia and the Far East will begin at the Sakhalin shelf deposits, which represent the best prepared projects for development (Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects).
Gas resources of the Sakhalin shelf are estimated at 3.6 trillion cu m. Annual gas production is projected to reach 59.4 billion cu m by 2020.
Sakhalin-2: This is a large integrated production sharing agreement (PSA) project under the direction of an international consortium, with Gazprom as the main shareholder. Russia's first LNG plant has been built within the Sakhalin-2 project. This year, Russia has begun to deliver LNG to foreign consumers by gas carriers. Sakhalin-2 stands as Russia's breakthrough into a new segment of the energy market.
Sakhalin-3: In 2009, the Russian Government decided to transfer licences for the Kirinsky, East Odoptinsky and Ayashsky blocks of the Sakhalin-3 project to Gazprom. Exploration is underway on the Kirinskoye field (the licence for it was received in 2008). Gas production shall start there in 2014. The field will be one of the sources of gas for the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas transportation system.
Krasnoyarsk gas production hub
Gas reserves of the Krasnoyarsk Territory are estimated at 25 trillion cu m. Annual gas production is projected to reach 11.6 billion cu m by 2020.
Work is underway to build field facilities at the oil legs of the Sobinskoye field. The agencies concerned are looking into the possibility of setting up gas processing and gas chemical plants on the basis of the Sobinskoye field.
Exploration is being conducted in promising mineral areas. In the 2002-2008 period, the Beryambinskoye gas condensate deposit and the Kamovskoye oilfield were discovered during exploration operations.
Irkutsk gas production hub
Gas resources of the Irkutsk Region are estimated at 7.4 trillion cu m. Annual gas production is projected to reach 39.5 billion cu m by 2020.
Exploration is underway in the Angara-Lena oil and gas-bearing province. In 2006, the Chikanskoye gas condensate deposit was discovered in the South Kovykta area. In 2008, test production was launched at the deposit. At present, plans are being drafted for a gas pipeline from the Chikanskoye deposit to supply gas to Sayansk, Angarsk and Irkutsk.
In 2007, the Bratskoye gas condensate deposit was commissioned in cooperation with independent gas producers, and a gas pipeline was built from the Bratskoye deposit to the 45th residential district of Bratsk.
Yakut gas production hub
Gas resources in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) are estimated at 10.4 trillion cu m. Annual gas production is projected to reach 34.6 billion cu m by 2020.
Exploration is underway at the Chayandinskoye oil and gas condensate deposit, unique in terms of reserves. It is planned to build the Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipeline and to set up gas processing facilities on the basis of the Chayandinskoye deposit and LNG production facilities in the Primorye Territory.
Kamchatka gas production hub
Gas resources in the Kamchatka Territory, the Chukotka Autonomous Area and their adjacent offshore areas are estimated at 2.7 trillion cu m.
Gazprom is building field facilities for the Kshukskoye and Nuzhne-Kvakchikskoye fields on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is also building the Sobolevo-Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky trunk gas pipeline to be commissioned in 2010. The project also specifies the building of a gas distribution network in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. In 2009, Gazprom received a licence for the West Kamchatka mineral area. There it plans to increase its gas reserves by about 200 billion cu m.
