Focus on innovation

‘And this is not the limit!’ — Belorusneft discovered a new black gold deposit

On the eve of the Day of Oil, Gas and Fuel Industry Workers, which is annually celebrated in Belarus on the first Sunday of September, a new oil field and deposit, as well as several other promising objects, were discovered. The production association Belorusneft made a gift not only to itself, but also to the country’s economy. The geography of the finds covers the Rechitsa District and Western Siberia.

Time of discovery

“For us, new deposits are truly a miracle. For example, oil is heavy in the Rechitsa District, so its extraction is a very difficult process. Thanks to technology and highly qualified specialists, we can do it,” the enterprise shares great news. 
The Vostochno-Nekrasovskoye field is located in the Rechitsa Distroct — in terms of oil production, it is closest to Gomel, it took an hour to get there by car. Despite the scorching sun, we decided to see everything with our own eyes. Just recently, geologists of the enterprise discovered a pre-salt structure at this place. The specialists continued to study the territory, covering an area of about 150 square kilometres with seismic surveys. The outcomes of the work became an occasion to delve into its study. As a result, using the hydraulic fracturing technology in the exploration well, it was possible to obtain an oil inflow of about 30 cubic metres per day — a fairly good indicator. The new field is waiting for the detailing of the structure, the state balance sheet and the calculation of hydrocarbon reserves. And they, according to experts, are at least 200 thousand tonnes.

A new deposit was also discovered at the geological field of the Rechitsa District after drilling exploratory well No. 11. Belorusneft noted that there were no discoveries here for 15 years.

With the help of modern methods, which were first used in the Pripyat Trough, specialists updated the data on the territory. The discovery will increase the company’s resource base by at least 600,000 tonnes of oil. It is here, by the way, with a high content of associated gas, so the benefits of the discovery are twofold.
The company clarified that associated petroleum gas is a valuable hydrocarbon component that is released from the mined, transported and processed minerals containing hydrocarbons.
More than half of the reserves of Belarusian black gold are hard to recover, so the further and deeper experts look into the prehistoric caches of the Polesian subsoil, the more difficult, and therefore more surprising the discovery is. This strategy has fully justified its feasibility. 
Belorusneft Production Association Deputy Director General for Geology Piotr Povzhik says, “The number of exploratory wells drilled has grown to 14 per year, and the penetration rate has risen to 52,000 metres. Research is carried out in Rechitsa, Khoiniki, Svetlogorsk, Kalinkovichi, Zhlobin and Bragin Districts. As a result, the increase in recoverable reserves for 2018-2022 amounted to almost 9 million tonnes. During this time, nine new oil fields and 32 deposits were discovered. Objects-2023 is another confirmation of the competent work of the specialists of our company, which now employs 27 thousand people.”
The plans include a comprehensive study of the Maisko-Makeevsko-Dneprovskaya area. This is more than 1200 square kilometres of territory. It is located in unique geographical conditions, including the Dnepro-Sozhsky nature reserve in Loyev District.

Siberian prospects

A few more discoveries were made in Western Siberia by a subsidiary of Belorusneft, the Yangpur company. A new deposit of natural gas has been discovered at the Metelnoye oil and gas condensate field — Siberians have been developing it for about six years. Approximately two years ago, natural gas production peaked here — over a billion cubic metres. For natural reasons, already known deposits began to lose their potential: reservoir pressure decreased, and ‘light’ reserves were exhausted. In this regard, research here began to be carried out even more intensively — and the result did not disappoint.
“From well No. 829s2 of the Metelnoye field, an inflow of natural gas with a volume of 260 thousand cubic metres per day and condensate of three cubic metres per day was obtained. According to preliminary estimates, the recoverable reserves of natural gas in open deposits are up to 700 million cubic metres. The result is quite significant for the company, as it will allow increasing the gas reserves of the entire field by 15 percent,” Alexander Polyakov, Director of the Yangpur oil company explained.
Surveys in Western Siberia really took on a serious scale and brought specialists to the Izvestinsky subsoil area, where oilmen drilled an exploratory well and discovered a significant resource base. In addition, here, geophysicists’ instruments reached much more ancient structures: a new deposit was discovered based on the results of their testing.
Exploration well No. 201 at the Rozhdestvenskaya structure has already shown that the recoverable oil resources here are 198 thousand tons, natural gas — 485 million cubic metres, condensate — 43 thousand tonnes. According to the results of geophysical studies in the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic deposits, rocks saturated with hydrocarbons were identified. Deep-lying deposits of the pre-Jurassic base are noted as promising.


There are also views of the Ust-Purpeysky subsoil area — the Yangpur company acquired it in 2021. Here, when testing the formation in the new well No. 561 of the Gubkinskoye field, an initial flow of oil of 30 tonnes per day and gas of 150 thousand cubic metres per day was obtained.
The achievements of oil workers are the sum of many factors, the most important of which is the colossal work of a huge team of specialists from an international company that ensures the well-being of its enterprise and the country’s raw material security.
Member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, Belorusneft Production Association Director General Aleksandr Lyakhov concluded, “The discovery of new sources, especially in the territory of the old oil province, where the company has been producing hydrocarbons for more than half a century, is the result of the systematic work of the geological block of Belorusneft over the past few years. An important role was played by serious investments in technological renewal, digitalisation of processes, as well as great attention to employee motivation and working conditions. Such an integrated approach to work allows us to achieve success in all areas. We are breaking records in oil and gas production, we have reached the maximum drilling volumes over the past 50 years, we are building a mining and processing plant in the Brest Region, we are developing the best electric transport charging network in the CIS. The company always relies on innovation in all areas.”

By Marina Severyanova

Photos by the production association Belorusneft