Our Arctic Neighbors: Gazprom optimistic about Yamal gas field

Gazprom’s Bovanenkovskoe gas field in Yamal will be developed on schedule, despite the tough economic climate, company official Sergey Menshikov said in early April. Bovanenkovskoe contains about 173 trillion cubic feet of gas and is due to begin production in the first half of 2011, according to Menshikov, who is the head of Gazprom subsidiary Gazprom Dobycha Nadym.

The economic situation has caused Gazprom to make minor changes to this year’s field development plans, Menshikov told Sever Press. The company has reduced the number of wells to be drilled in 2009 from a planned 39 to 30.

A railway line connecting the Bovanenkovskoe field with the rest of the Russian railway grid is due to be completed in January 2010. The field is expected to produce about 4 tcf of gas per year.

—Sarah Hurst