Vostok to conduct test drilling on new oil and gas fields
© RIA Novosti. Evgeny Biyatov

Vostok to conduct test drilling on new oil and gas fields

Vostok NAO, a joint venture set up by Lukoil and Bashneft, will drill two test boreholes to gauge the volume of hydrocarbons in the Severo-Yareiginisky and Yangareisky licensed deposits in the east of the Nenets Autonomous Area, the Nenets government website reported.

Test drilling is part of the joint venture's geological exploration program designed for 2016-2018, which was approved by Lukoil and Bashneft top managers at their working meeting in Naryan Mar. Both companies are extracting oil in the region.

"The Nenets Autonomous Area has vast undeveloped lands with potential reserves that could benefit the entire country. That is why we are creating incentives both for developing new deposits and for making extractions at deposits already in operation more efficient," Nenets Governor Igor Koshin said.

Vostok NAO, with Lukoil and Bashneft each holding a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, will explore seven licensed blocks previously owned by the companies. 

"The implementation of oil and gas projects helps improve the living standards of the local population and enhances the economic and political significance of the Nenets Autonomous Area for the future development of the European North and the entire Russian Arctic," Vladimir Sarychev, Vostok NAO's general director, told reporters after the meeting.