20 Billion Cubic Meters of Gas Planned for Production in Yakutia in 2023
This year it is planned to produce 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Yakutia. And this is a very real benchmark, because in 2022 the volume of methane production in Yakutia increased by 25 percent and reached 17.3 billion cubic meters. This brought the northern republic to the second place among the regions of the Far East and the seventh in the country.
Back in the 1970s, scientists claimed that the gas reserves in Yakutia are huge – over a trillion cubic meters. Today, the rapid growth in production is primarily due to the development of the largest in the region – by the way, it is a trillion cubic meters! – Chayandinskoye field, discovered in the 1980s. Optimism adds and the discovery of new wealth. Over the past five years, nine deposits have become known in Yakutia, the total increase in reserves is 247 billion cubic meters.
In 2022, two new gas condensate fields were discovered – Mukhtinskoye and im. Ewaldt Tugi with total reserves of 69 billion cubic meters. The main advantage of Mukhtinsky is its proximity to the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. As they say, mine and deliver.
Towards the end of 2022, YATEK discovered a large gas field in the Vilyuisky district. Recoverable reserves are estimated at 34.5 billion cubic meters. “Until now, we have not been producing gas-bearing reservoirs of the Permian horizon. This is a new and very promising area of work. In general, we expect that by 2025 the company’s total geological gas reserves will reach one trillion cubic meters,” the Deputy General Director for Geology, Geophysics and field development, chief geologist of the company Anton Nedosekin.
The total geological gas reserves of YATEK still amount to 662 billion cubic meters, but the company continues exploration at the Northern, Southern, Sobolokhsky and Maisky blocks in Yakutia, so a trillion is not far off here either.
“Despite the sanctions pressure, Yakutia has shown steady growth and high production rates over the past year,” Maxim Tereshchenko, Minister of Industry and Geology of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) emphasized to RG. “In terms of industrial production growth, the republic is among the top ten regions of the country. In terms of production oil and gas is in the top three in the Far East. The Republic is strengthening strategic and friendly relations with China and other countries from the Asia-Pacific region. This is a merit of enterprises and our local specialists.”
In his opinion, for the further development of the gas industry, it is necessary to use the full potential of the fields, including the implementation of LNG projects that can give a good impetus to the development of Russian exports.
For the further development of the gas industry in Yakutia, it is necessary to implement LNG projects
In this regard, many hopes are pinned on the Aldan Industrial Cluster project, which is being implemented by the republic and the Gazprom company. It is called a new point of growth in the Far East. As part of the project, it is planned to create gas processing and mining facilities and enter the LNG market. Already, LNG production is being carried out in the village of Nizhny Bestyakh. The products are used as fuel at the facilities of the Yakutian Railways company, and are exported. The region is also implementing a pilot project for autonomous gasification of the boiler house in the village of Kachikatsi. The design and estimate documentation for the networks has already been prepared, and funds have been allocated for the implementation of the project.
But what gives all this to the inhabitants of Yakutia? Maxim Tereshchenko believes that it is necessary to take into account the principle of economic attractiveness of projects, that is, what effect the region will receive from their implementation: cost reduction in housing and communal services, tax increases, job creation, development of new processing industries.
2.1 thousand houses are planned to be supplied with gas this year in Yakutia
“At the same time, we should not forget about stimulating the producers themselves,” the minister emphasizes. “The industry of Yakutia is a synergy of the state, enterprises and people. Stimulating the gas industry gives the region additional volumes of gas, which are directed primarily to gasification of villages and cities.”
In the Sakha people, in the old days they called gas “underground fire”, they were afraid of it. Today, on the contrary, in most areas people dream of gasification. Last year, 2.8 billion rubles were allocated from the federal budget for the construction of the Kysyl-Syr 84 km main pipeline. The gas pipeline should provide gas supply to more than 450 thousand inhabitants – almost half of the population of Yakutia.
A social gasification program has been implemented in the republic since 2021. In 2022, it was planned to gasify 2041 houses, but the results exceeded expectations. During the year, 3,387 gas pipelines-inputs were built to the borders of citizens’ land plots and 2,877 houses were supplied with gas. The annual plan was exceeded by 41 percent.
