The Nezalezhnist self-elevating floating drilling rig on Feb. 1, 2013 started drilling its first well in the Black Sea, the press service of Chornomornaftogaz state-run enterprise reported last week.
The press service said that the well is being drilled from the BK-1 platform of the Arkhanhelske gas field located 60 kilometers off the Crimean coast. In 2013, the main work on setting up extraction at new Odeske and Bezimenne fields will be finished, and setting up extraction at the Arkhanhelske and Shtormove fields will continue.
Thus, from February 2013, all four self-elevating floating drilling rigs belonged to Chornomornaftogaz are in operation on the Black Sea shelf. The Tavryda and Syvash rigs are drilling from the MSP-17 platform of the Shtormove gas condensate field. The Petro Hodovanets drilling rig is drilling from the BK-1 platform of the Odeske natural gas field. After drilling a well at the Arkhanhelske gas field, the Nezalezhnist rig will commence operations on the Odeske field. It will be installed on the BK-2 platform, construction of which has been delayed due to bad weather in the Black Sea.
The press service said that the start of extraction from the BK-1 platform of the Odeske field, where the Petro Hodovanets drilling rig is operating, has brought total extraction at the Azov Sea and Black Sea fields to a record 4 million cubic meters per day. In 2013, the use of the two modern self-elevating floating drilling rigs will allow over 5 million cubic meters per day to be achieved, and the extraction of 1.65 billion cubic meters of natural gas at the end of the year, including 600 million cubic meters from Odeske and Bezimenne fields.
From 2014, the extraction level at the two fields will reach over one billion cubic meters. Thus, the indicators will be an important part of the realization of a program on the triple increase in annual extraction of natural gas by Chornomornaftogaz from 1.05 billion cubic meters in 2011 to 3 billion cubic meters in 2015.
As reported, Chornomornaftogaz in 2012 increased natural gas extraction by 11.2% or by 118 million cubic meters on 2011, to 1.174 billion cubic meters.
Oil extraction in 2012 rose b 1.7%, to 8,720 tonnes, while extraction of gas condensate was down by 6.45%, to 62,770 tonnes.
Chornomornaftogaz carries out offshore development in the Ukrainian sections of the Black and Azov Seas. The company also produces hydrocarbons at fields in Crimea, and operates the Hlibovske underground gas storage facilities and trunk pipelines on the peninsula.
