Technology | |||
TNK-BP considers technology to be a key component of its success in the global economic arena. Competent technology management facilitates the adoption of new approaches and helps to eliminate old stereotypes that impede progress. The fear of change is being replaced by recognition of the fact that change is a natural component of any process, whether production or managerial.
TNK-BP employees strive to demonstrate the highest level of professionalism in their work, as well as to meet recognized world standards regulating the application of new technologies and new operating procedures, and to ensure efficiency of the technologies, methods and procedures already in place. These objectives are shared by all of the company’s operating streams: exploration & production (Upstream), and refining & marketing (Downstream).
TNK-BP has created Expert Working Groups specializing in several major fields of corporate operations: the Corrosion Protection Group, the Well Operation & Maintenance Expert Support Group, the Drilling Group, the Drilling Performance Enhancement Group, the Electric Submersible Pumps Group, the Major & Current Well Workover Group, the Reservoir Pressure Maintenance Systems Optimization Group, and the Metering & Electrical Groups.
Specialists from various Business Units and engineering experts played an active role in the group’s work and contributed significantly to its results. The groups ensure problem solving, sharing of best practices, adoption of unified standards and procedures, practical application of technologies and transfer of technical experience to the regions.
Production Optimization
Enhancement of hydro-fracturing performance and development of complex solutions aimed at expanding the reservoir coverage by waterflooding are the objectives of a serious, targeted program in which all of the company’s units participate. TNK-BP used hydro-fracturing to increase oil recovery without increasing the production cost rate. These impressive results were achieved by applying new technologies, upgrading equipment and implementing new forms of cooperation between specialists of different Streams. A large group of specialists is working on expanding reservoir coverage by water flooding. This year alone, the production divisions have collected and analyzed data on thousands of sites. Complex action programs have been developed for each of the four major fields at which the company has production and commercial operations. Their implementation will become an important factor in the company’s ability to continue to increase production volumes.
Exploration
The division that deals with exploration is responsible for implementing the company’s exploration programs at several distinct fields. Paramarginal exploration of brownfields performed within the framework of already initiated programs has been well developed. Such operations facilitate the low-cost discovery of fields with reserve volumes of up to 6.84 million tons (50 million barrels). Such fields, although small, are relatively easy to develop, and can quickly be made operational.
Another important area of work is greenfield exploration at the Uvat project, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District and in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, including Rospan. The company has purchased licenses for vast areas and intends to continue appraisal and exploration work in order to ensure that it achieves its field development and reserves replenishment targets.
Another line of activities involves new high-potential regions, such as Yamal, the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, East Siberia and other. The reserves volumes of some fields situated in those regions may exceed 34.2 million tons (250 million barrels). Again, an important and quite promising component of the TNK-BP exploration program is the work on undeveloped fields and fields from the Unallocated Fund.
The company hopes that these strategic components, together with new technologies, will provide the flexibility necessary for further progress.
Refining
The optimization system introduced by TNK-BP’s refining and marketing divisions continues to benefit the company. The reliable algorithms that underpin the system steadily increase oil netback. Projects such as the modernization of vacuum gasoil production at the Ryazan Refinery, construction of a bitumen production facility and a benzene isomerization facility at the Lisichansk Refinery, and construction of a viscosity breaking facility at the Saratov Refinery are good examples of how the adoption of new technologies secures TNK-BP’s position in the future of the oil refining and gas processing industry. Such projects aim primarily to enhance refining depth and light oil products output, raise the quality of high-octane fuels and introduce modern catalysts.
Projects and Engineering
In 2008—2009 in terms of production capacities development the company has successfully launched three major oil production projects, those are: group of Uvat fields in Tyumen region (reserves are 1 bn bbl), Verkhnechonskoe field in Eastern Siberia (1.4 bn bbl) and also the Northerm hub of Kamennoe field exploration in Khanty-Mansiisk Disctrict (1.7 bn bbl). As for the nearest future TNK-BP will concentrate technological activities at the group of Yamal projects including Russkoe, Suzunskoe, Tagulskoe and Messoyahskoye (jointly with “Slavneft” company) fields as well as at Rospan project. All these fields in Yamal put together are an impressive resource base with the annual potential more than 30 million tons of oil equivalent. In the next ten years, Yamal will become the main center of reserves growth and production replacement for TNK-BP and Russia overall. Besides that in the next 5 years, the company also intends to invest significant assets into its complex refineries upgrading program in Russia and Ukraine to achieve deeper oil conversion and migrating to fuel grades Euro-3 and Euro-4.