EXXONMOBIL has successful completed the first two extended-reach wells at the Odoptu field offshore eastern Russia, employing one of the world’s most powerful land-based rigs.
The Yastreb rig, which is located onshore Sakhalin, drilled horizontally under the Sea of Okhotsk to a target area in the Odoptu oil reservoir more than nine kilometres (5.6 miles) offshore.
The extended-reach wells are the first two of seven which will tap the reservoir at Odoptu. The field is expected to start producing oil during H2 this year.
“This is yet another milestone in Sakhalin-1 Project achievements,” said Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Company and who has extensive North Sea experience.
“The Sakhalin-1 Project is one of the largest energy investments in Russia and is a testament to international co-operation.
“The project has applied industry-leading technology to successfully operate in a safe and environmentally responsible manner in one of the most challenging sub-Arctic environments in the world while providing important economic benefits to Russia.”
ExxonMobil puts the excellent Sakhalin-1 drilling performance down to its “Fast Drill” technology. Additional ongoing activities at Odoptu include the construction of a new onshore oil&gas treatment facility and flowline to the existing Chayvo onshore processing facility.
The Sakhalin-1 Project includes the phased development of the Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkuntun-Dagi fields, with an estimated total resource of 2.3billion barrels of oil and 17trillion cu ft (485billion cu m of natural gas. Chayvo, which was the initial phase of the Sakhalin-1 Project, began production in 2006.
Since start-up, the Sakhalin-1 Project has produced more than 240million barrels of oil for export to world markets. It has also been a key supplier of nearly 180billion cu ft of associated gas to customers in Khabarovsk Krai, in the Russian Far East.