GAZPROM has made a major new gas find offshore Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.
The find, located in the Kirinsky sector of the Sakhalin-3 project, was made using the semi-submersible rig Songa Mercur, which drilled to a depth of 2,795m (9,170ft).
Gazprom is already planning an appraisal programme that the company has indicated may run through to 2013, plus the plan is to bring Kirinsky onstream as early as 2011.
This new find will presumably boost reserves at Sakhalin-3, which is currently thought to hold nearly 50trillion cu ft of natural gas.
Gazprom said the programme was part of the Russian government’s plan to establish a unified system of production, transport, and gasification in Eastern Siberia and Russian Far East with a view to selling output to China and other markets in Asia-Pacific.
Gazprom owns and operates the Kirinsky, East-Odoptinsky and Ayashinsky Blocks, as well as the Kirinskoye Field in Sakhalin-3.