Our Arctic Neighbors: Russian oil field using new technology

Russia’s Lukoil is successfully using technological innovations at the Yuzhno-Khylchuyuskoye or Y-K field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, representatives of the company said at a press conference Feb. 5. The field is operated by Lukoil subsidiary Naryanmarneftegaz, or NMNG, a joint venture with ConocoPhillips. Lukoil owns 70 percent of the company and ConocoPhillips 30 percent.

The Y-K field now produces more than 20,000 tons of oil per day (146,600 barrels), according to NMNG.

“Today at the YK field the company uses state-of-the-art methods for water treatment that have not been used by any other company in the world,” said Mikhail Bondarenko, NMNG’s deputy vice president for operations. The quantity of suspended particles in the water that is injected into the reservoir to maintain pressure has been reduced with the help of micropore fine filters and a multiphase filtration system, he added. The use of a chemical absorbent and a demercaptanization unit (for removing heavy sulfide compounds known as mercaptans from the oil) will improve the quality of the crude oil from the field, Bondarenko continued.

NMNG plans to introduce a new brand called Arctic Light to the market, which will sell for at least $1.50 more than the current price per barrel.

Power-saving technologies are also being used at the Y-K field, and the crude treatment center for the project uses about 40 megawatts of electricity instead of the design level of 64 MW. This is possible due to the application of heat insulation with low heat conductivity on the pipelines and the use of variable speed drives that optimize the pressure-flow characteristics of pumps, according to NMNG.

In the second quarter of 2010 NMNG will put a sulfur removal system into operation to meet international environmental requirements, the company said.

—Sarah Hurst