The Kovykta gas condensate field is one of the largest undeveloped
natural gas field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
s in
Eastern Siberia
Eastern Siberia is a part of Siberia that incorporates the territory located between the Yenisei River in the west and the Pacific Ocean divides in the east. Its area is equal to 7.2 million sq. km.Galina Samoylova (Г. С. Самойлова)В ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. The field is located in the northern part of the
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...
, in the Zhigalovo and Kazachinsko-Lensk districts.
History
The field was discovered in 1987. In June 2007,
TNK-BP
TNK-BP (, ) was a major vertically integrated Russian oil company headquartered in Moscow. It was Russia's third-largest oil producer and among the ten largest private oil companies in the world. In 2013 it was acquired by Russian oil company R ...
agreed to sell its stake for US$ 700 million to US$ 900 million to
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
with option to buy back a 25% plus one share stake in the project.
[
] However, this deal never materialized. In June 2010, Rusia Petroleum, the developer of Kovykta field filed for bankruptcy.
[
] TNK-BP also tried to sell the field to state-owned Rosneftegaz, but failed.[ On 1 March 2011, Gazprom bought Rusia Petroleum's assets, including rights for the Kovykta field, for $711 million.
]
Reserves
The reserves of Kovykta amount to 2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
and more than 83 million tons of gas condensate. The period of active gas production in the Kovykta field is expected to be 30 years, and the period of field development about 50 years.[
]
Developer
The field was developed by Rusia Petroleum, 62.9% of which is owned by TNK-BP.[
][
]
Significance
The Kovykta field is considered to supply natural gas to China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
. According to these agreements signed by Rusia Petroleum with China National Petroleum Corporation
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing, Dongcheng District, Beij ...
and Kogas on 2 November 2000, the annual export of gas to China and Korea will be 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) and 10 bcm, respectively.[ The Kovykta field will contribute also to the gasification of Irkutsk Oblast, implemented by the OAO East Siberia Gas Company, a joint venture of Gazprom (originally TNK-BP) and the Irkutsk Oblast Administration.
]
See also
*Energy policy of Russia
Russia's energy policy is presented in the government's ''Energy Strategy'' document, first approved in 2000, which sets out the government's policy to 2020 (later extended to 2030). The Energy Strategy outlines several key priorities: increase ...
* Energy policy of China
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovykta Field
Oil fields of Russia
Natural gas fields in Russia
Gazprom oil and gas fields