Rustam Minnikhanov at board meeting of the Russian Ministry of Energy: Tatarstan has significant potential to increase hydrocarbon resource base

On April 15, within his working trip to Moscow, Acting Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in an extended board meeting of the Russian Ministry of Energy, which summed up the performance in 2014 and set out priorities for 2015.

Russia Energy Ministry Alexander Novak made a keynote report, noting that despite the recent challenges, including sanctions imposed by EU and US, substantial decrease in the price of basic fuel and energy products, degrading financial and economic environment and problems in attracting funds, industry’s highlights were stable and met the forecast.

Making a report at the meeting Minnikhanov told about the steps being taken to develop the energy sector in the republic.Oil recovery output had in 2014 been the biggest in the past 20 years, 33 million tonnes, he said. By the end of 2014, all the oil companies in the region achieved 95 percent efficiency in associated petroleum gas disposal, Minnikhanov reported.

According to him, all oil companies annually ensured extended replacement of oil reserves. Tatneft, in particular, displayed 143 percent replacement last year, while smaller oil companies did 147 percent. The share of increase through geological prospecting was 54 percent, Minnikhanov noted.

The share of difficult reserves was 78.4 per cent, with the main oilfields being more than 85 per cent depleted, he added. Owing to in-house technologies, however, Tatneft had for the past 20 years displayed progress in recovery, Rustam Minnikhanov claimed. The company seals over 200 patents annually.

Tatarstan had substantial potential to increase its hydrocarbons, Rustam Minnikhanov claimed. The region has a considerable amount of unrecovered high-viscous oil and slate oil. The year’s target on high-viscous oil is 445 thousand tonnes, while the 2017 target is 2 million tonnes. Slate oilfields are being explored.

Tatarstan accounts for 6 percent of the Russian oil refining, he said. “While in 2006 we processed 6.8 million tonnes, in 2014 it was nearly 17 million tonnes, with the share of export in oil recovery reducing from 62 to 39 per cent,” Rustam Minnikhanov said.