Gazprom finds gas reserves at Kamennomysskoye fields
Boris Nikitin, deputy CEO of Gazprom, said that the company had found large amounts of gas to the east of the Yamal
Peninsula, in the Gulf of Ob. Results from the first appraisal well drilled in the area, said Nikitin, show that the
offshore Kamennomysskoye and Severno-Kamennomysskoye fields appear to contain between 600 bn cm and 1 tcm of
high-quality natural gas. This is equivalent to about 2 % of Russia's current total gas reserves, he said.
A further determination on the fields' reserve figures will be made in the first quarter of 2001, after a second test
well is completed in late September, he added. (The first well was sunk at Severno-Kamennomysskoye and the second is
being drilled at Kamennomysskoye.)
Eventually, Nikitin said, the fields may yield 30-40 bn cmpy, equivalent to about 8 % of Gazprom's current yearly
output. He did not say when commercial production might begin, but industry analysts said that the fields would
probably not be brought on line for another five years or so.
Nikitin stated that drilling work on the two wells, which were begun in July of this year, was expected to cost a
total of $ 10 mm. The cost of developing the two offshore fields was originally estimated at $ 500 mm, he added.
