Project Profile
Location: 180 km from Astrakhan and 240 km from Makhachkala
Water Depth: 11-13 metres
Start-up Year: December 2009
Reserves: 119MMBBL (2015)
Peak Production: 33,400 bpd (2015)
The Yuri Korchagin field is an offshore oil field in the Russian sector of the North Caspian Sea. Yuri Korchagin Field is expected to be commissioned in December, 2009. The field is located 180 km from Astrakhan and 240 km from Makhachkala. The sea depth in the area of the field is 11-13 metres. The estimated 3P reserves of the field are 570 million barrels of oil equivalent. The maximum production rate of oil and gas condensate reaches 2.3 million tons per annum and 1.2 billion cubic metres of gas per annum.
The field is owned and operated by Lukoil–Nizhnevolzhskneft, a subsidiary of Lukoil. The contractor for drilling operations is BKE Shelf (Eurasia Drilling Company).
Lukoil started geological survey of North Caspian Sea in 1995. Exploratory drilling started in 1999 by using Astra semi-submersible jack-up rig. The field was discovered in 2000. Its development started in 2004. The first oil was extracted on 28 April 2010.
The development will have 30 wells, including 26 production wells, one gas-injection well and three water-injection wells. As of April 2010, one oil production well and one gas extraction well were operational. By mid 2010, a water injection well was added. The wells have been drilled horizontally and their radial placement enables in their simultaneous drilling. Control of drilling operations on the platform and field have been done since 2009 by Eurasia Drilling Company. A total of R34.4bn (US$1.12bn) has been spent on field development between 2004 and 2009. Ray McDermott was responsible for installation of the platform. Stroytransgaz was responsible for the construction of the technological complex of the platform.
In 2015 the Yuri Korchagin field produced 33,400 barrels per day of equivalent, up 13.8% year on year. Output is expected to peak at around 53,900 barrels per day, although LUKoil has not said when it expects to reach this milestone. The field had 119 million barrels of proven oil reserves left at the end of 2015.
LUKoil’s current production licence for the field is due to expire in 2023.
Operators:
Lukoil: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
BKE Shelf: Drilling contract
Bumi Armada Berhad: Engineering, procurement, installation and pre-commissioning (EPIC) work
Eurasia Drilling Company: Control of drilling operations
Stroytransgaz: Construction of the technological complex of the platform
Ray McDermott: Installation of the platform
Tendeka: Supply of autonomous inflow control devices
Schlumberger: Drilling services contractor