Yamal project, also referred to as Yamal megaproject, is a long term plan to exploit and bring to the markets the vast natural gas reserves in the Yamal Peninsula

Yamal Peninsula

The Yamal Peninsula , located in Yamal-Nenets autonomous district of northwest Siberia, Russia, extends roughly 700 km and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea, Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the Gulf of Ob on the east...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The project is developed by Gazprom

Gazprom

Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...

.

History

Preparations for the Yamal's development started 1990s. According to the original plans, drilling work on the Bovanenkovo field was to have started in 1997. In January 2002, Gazprom identified the Yamal Peninsula as a region of Gazprom's strategic interest. Preparatory works started in 2007 with the construction of auxiliary infrastructures, such as staff buildings and transport facilities. In July 2008 Gazprom launched the construction of the Bovanenkovo–Ukhta gas trunkline at the submerged crossing via the Baydaratskaya Bay

Baydaratskaya Bay

Baydaratskaya Bay is a gulf in Russia, located in the southern part of the Kara Sea between the coastline of the Northern termination of the Ural Mountains and Yamal Peninsula. The length of the gulf is approx. 180 km, mouth width - 78 km, depth - up to 20 m. Surface water temperature...

. The project was officially inaugurated on 3 December 2008.

Oil and gas fields

On the Yamal Peninsula and its adjacent offshore areas have been discovered 11 gas fields and 15 oil, gas and condensate fields. They consists of 16 trillion cubic meters (tcm) of explored and provisionally evaluated gas reserves and nearly 22 tcm of in-place and forecast gas reserves. Condensate reserves are estimated to consists of 230.7 million tonnes and oil reserves to consists of 291.8 million tonnes. The largest gas fields, for which Gazprom owns the licenses, are Bovanenkovo, Kharasavey, Novoportovo, Kruzenshtern, Severo-Tambey, Zapadno-Tambey, Tasiy and Malygin fields.

Bovanenkovo gas field

The Bovanenkovo gas field is the largest gas field on the Yamal Peninsula with estimated reserves of 4.9 tcm. It is expected to be put in operation by 2011 with the annual production of 8 billion cubic meters (bcm), which will increase to 75-115 bcm by 2015.

Trunk pipelines

Several pipelines are envisaged for delivery of the Yamal gas. A joint project (Yamal-Europe pipeline

Yamal-Europe pipeline

The Yamal–Europe natural gas pipeline is a long pipeline connecting natural gas fields in Western Siberia and in the future on the Yamal peninsula, Russia, with Germany.-History:...

) between gas transportation companies of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 was agreed in 1993 and commissioned in 1999. After commissioning of the Bovanenkovo–Ukhta gas trunkline it will deliver Yamal's gas to Europe. Construction of this pipeline started in July 2008 and was officially launched on 3 December 2008. The 1100 kilometres (683.5 mi) gas pipeline is to connect the Bovanenkovo gas field with the Russian gas hub at Ukhta

Ukhta

Ukhta is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known in the 17th century. In the mid-19th century, industrialist M. K. Sidorov started to drill for oil in this area. It was one of the first oil wells in...

. First deliveries of over 15 bcm per year are expected to start by the end of 2011.

Yamal LNG

In November 2008, Gazprom announced that it prepares a list of potential partners for the Yamal LNG project. Although the list is not disclosed yet, Gazprom indicated that ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

 and ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...

 are included on the list. Also Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

, Repsol YPF

Repsol YPF

Repsol YPF, S.A. is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries...

 and Petro-Canada

Petro-Canada

Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...

have been mentioned as potential partners.

External links

• Yamal Megaproject (Gazprom website)
• Bovanenkovo Field (Gazprom website)