The Urengoyskoye oil, gas and condensate field was discovered in 1966 in the northern part of the Tyumen Region. With its initial C1+C2 gas reserves totaling 10.9 trillion cubic meters, the field ranked as the world’s largest at the time.
Within a short timeframe, the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate complex was created in the harsh natural and climatic conditions of the Extreme North. Gas production started on April 22, 1978.
At present, the Urengoyskoye field prospects hinge on the development of hard-to-reach Achimov deposits.
The C1 reserves of the Achimov deposits in Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy’s fields amount to over 1 trillion cubic meters of gas and 400 million tons of condensate.
The Achimov deposits lie at depths of some 4,000 meters and have a much more complex geological structure than the Cenomanian (1,100–1,700 meters deep) and Valanginian (1,700–3,200 meters) deposits. In addition, the Achimov deposits are characterized by an abnormally high formation pressure (over 600 atm), a multiphase structure, and the presence of tectonic and lithological screens and heavy paraffins.
In 2003, Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom) and Wintershall Holding (a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF) set up the Achimgaz joint venture to develop the first pilot block (Block 1A) of the Achimov deposits in the Urengoyskoye field.
In 2008, Achimgaz commenced pilot production from Block 1A.
Alexey Miller and Jurgen Hambrecht put onstream first pilot block of Achimov deposits
In 2011, the block was brought into commercial production.
The annual design capacity of Block 1A is over 9.6 billion cubic meters.
In 2009, Gazprom started independently producing gas from the second pilot block (Block 2A) of the Achimov deposits in the Urengoyskoye field.
Upon reaching its design capacity, Block 2A will annually yield 8.7 billion cubic meters of gas.
In 2021, Achim Development, a joint venture of Gazprom and Wintershall Dea, started gas and gas condensate production from Blocks 4A and 5А in the Achimov formations of the Urengoyskoye field.
At present, Gazprom is preparing the third (3A) pilot block for development.
After the five blocks reach their full capacity, the overall gas output will be around 37 billion cubic meters per year.
